In this letter, a novel detection scheme for the cooperative relaying system using non-orthogonal multiple access (CRS-NOMA) is proposed. For CRS-NOMA, the source simultaneously transmits two symbols ...by employing the superposition code, and the relay decodes and forwards the symbol with lower allocated power by employing the successive interference cancellation (SIC). In the proposed scheme, the destination jointly decodes two symbols from both the directed signal and the forwarded signal by employing the maximum-ratio combination and another SIC. The ergodic sum rate and the outage performance of the system are investigated. A suboptimal allocation strategy is also designed. Both analysis and simulations reveal the advantages of the proposed scheme.
Aim: The relationship between chemotherapy response score (CRS), a widely used response predictor of neoadjuvant chemotherapy-interval debulking surgery (NAC-IDS), and multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) ...and CA125 ELIMination rate constant K (KELIM), is undetermined. We evaluated CRS in advanced ovarian cancer patients undergoing NAC and looked for associations between CRS and MDR1 and CA125 KELIM. Our aim was to predict the therapeutic effect of NAC before interval debulking surgery (IDS) by examining its association with CRS. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent NAC-IDS (first-line treatment) at Kurume University Hospital, Japan, between 2004 and 2017. CRS association with MDR1 and CA125 KELIM was examined using Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. Survival curves used Kaplan–Meier method, and survival differences between groups used log-rank test. Results: Overall, 55 patients were classified into CRS1 (n=22), CRS2 (n=19), and CRS3 (n=14). The CRS3 group had a significantly better prognosis than the CRS1 or CRS2 group. CRS, age, and IDS status were clinical prognostic factors for ovarian cancer. MDR1 positivity for excision repair cross-complementing group 1, β-tubulin, and Y-box binding protein-1 occurred in 15, 17, and 11 patients, respectively, but these were not associated with CRS. CA125 KELIM was <0.5 (n=8), 0.5-1.0 (n=30), and ≥ 1.0 (n=17) but not associated with CRS. Conclusion: CRS is reconfirmed as a treatment response predictor for NAC-IDS, but its association with drug resistance factors remains unconfirmed.
Cooperative Rate-Splitting (CRS) strategy, relying on linearly precoded rate-splitting at the transmitter and opportunistic transmission of the common message by the relaying user, has recently been ...shown to outperform typical Non-cooperative Rate-Splitting (NRS), Cooperative Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (C-NOMA) and Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) in a two-user Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) Broadcast Channel (BC) with user relaying. In this work, the existing two-user CRS transmission strategy is generalized to the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">K </tex-math></inline-formula>-user case. We study the problem of jointly optimizing the precoders, message split, time slot allocation, and relaying user scheduling with the objective of maximizing the minimum rate among users subject to a transmit power constraint at the base station. As the user scheduling problem is discrete and the entire problem is non-convex, we propose a two-stage low-complexity algorithm to solve the problem. Both centralized and decentralized relaying protocols based on selecting <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">K_{1} </tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">K_{1} < K </tex-math></inline-formula>) strongest users are first proposed followed by a Successive Convex Approximation (SCA)-based algorithm to jointly optimize the time slot, precoders and message split. Numerical results show that by applying the proposed two-stage algorithm, the worst-case achievable rate achieved by CRS is significantly increased over that of NRS and SDMA in a wide range of network loads (underloaded and overloaded regimes) and user deployments (with a diversity of channel strengths). Importantly, the proposed SCA-based algorithm dramatically reduces the computational complexity without any rate loss compared with the conventional algorithm in the literature of CRS. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">K </tex-math></inline-formula>-user CRS combined with the two-stage algorithm is more powerful than the existing transmission schemes.
Aim
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a potential neuromodulatory therapy that enhances recovery from disorders of consciousness, especially minimally conscious state (MCS). This study measured the ...effects of DBS on the brain and explored the underlying mechanisms of DBS on MCS.
Methods
Nine patients with MCS were recruited for this study. The neuromodulation effects of 100 Hz DBS were explored via cross‐control experiments. Coma Recovery Scale‐Revised (CRS‐R) and EEG were recorded, and corresponding functional connectivity and network parameters were calculated.
Results
Our results showed that 100 Hz DBS could improve the functional connectivity of the whole, local and local–local brain regions, while no significant change in EEG functional connectivity was observed in sham DBS. The whole brain's network parameters (clustering coefficient, path length, and small world characteristic) were significantly improved. In addition, a significant increase in the CRS‐R and functional connectivity of three MCS patients who received 100 Hz DBS for 6 months were observed.
Conclusion
This study showed that DBS improved EEG functional connectivity and brain networks, indicating that the long‐term use of DBS could improve the level of consciousness of MCS patients.
Study design.
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), a common clinical condition characterized by persistent mucosal inflammation and tissue remodeling, has a complex pathogenesis that is intricately linked to innate and ...adaptive immunity. A number of studies have demonstrated that a variety of immune cells and cytokines that play a vital role in mediating inflammation in CRS are also involved in remodeling of the nasal mucosa and the cells as well as different cytokines involved in remodeling in CRS are also able to exert some influence on inflammation, even though the exact relationship between inflammation and remodeling in CRS has not yet been fully elucidated. In this review, the potential role of immune cells and cytokines in regulating inflammation and remodeling of CRS mucosa has been described, starting with the immune cells and cytokines that act together in inflammation and remodeling. The goal is to aid researchers in understanding intimate connection between inflammation and remodeling of CRS and to offer novel ideas for future research.
Frequency of PD-L1 expression and the role of immunotherapy in malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) have not been well characterized. The purpose of this study was to determine PD-L1 expression in ...patients with MPM and perform an exploratory analysis for associations between PD-L1 and its biological behavior in MPM.
Tumor samples were collected from patients undergoing surgical interventions between January 2018 and June 2020. Specimens were stained with anti-PD-L1 antibodies (Dako 22c3) and positivity was determined by tumor proportion score (TPS) or combined positive score (CPS) being ≥1%.
Twenty one samples were obtained from 21 patients. Sixteen of 21 (76%) samples were CPS positive and 9 of 21 (43%) were TPS positive. Three samples had more aggressive biphasic/sarcomatoid histology and a high CPS and TPS (CPS: 3, 75, 95%; TPS: 2, 60, 90%). On an exploratory analysis, as the CPS or TPS threshold increased, there was a trend towards worse survival.
MPM has a high frequency of PD-L1 expression, which may be associated with more aggressive tumor biology. These data provide the foundation for continued evaluation of checkpoint inhibition in patients with MPM.
The use of 100% waste glass cullet (WGC) as fine aggregates in architectural cement-based mortar had been proven to be feasible in previous works. This paper reports a further study on investigating ...the influence of using waste glass powder (WGP) as a supplementary cementitious material on the properties of glass-based architectural cement mortars. The experimental results showed a good linear relationship between the particle size of WGP and the flow values of the fresh mortar, revealing that the particle size of WGP played an important role in controlling the workability. For the hydration of white cement, the inclusion of WGP not only affected the second exothermic peak of hydration but also changed the third peak. In particular, the result indicated that the use of finer WGP had an advantage in increasing the flexural strength of the cement mortar when compared with the corresponding compressive strength, which was attributed to the morphological and pozzolanic effect of WGP. In addition, the very fine WGP could act as micro-fibers and micro-aggregates in filling the microstructure of the mortar. At 90 days of curing, the mortar prepared with finer WGP showed a distinct improvement in strength due to the improved interfacial transition zone and the pore-size refinement.
Background
Epigenetics studies mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, non-coding RNAs, and alternative polyadenylation that can modify gene activity without changing the ...underlying DNA nucleotide base-pair structure. Because these changes are reversible, they have potential in developing novel therapeutics. Currently, seven pharmaceutical agents targeting epigenetic changes are FDA approved and commercially available for treatment of certain cancers. However, studies investigating epigenetics in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) have not been undertaken previously in the United States.
Objectives
The goal of this study was to investigate sinonasal DNA methylation patterns in CRS versus controls, to discern environmentally-induced epigenetic changes impacting CRS subjects.
Methods and Results
Ethmoidal samples from CRS and inferior turbinate mucosal tissue samples from controls without CRS were studied. DNA methylation was studied by Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing. RADMeth® biostatistical package was used to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between CRS and controls. Ingenuity Pathway analysis of DMRs was performed to identify top upstream regulators and canonical pathways. Ninety-three samples from 64 CRS subjects (36 CRSwNP; 28 CRSsNP) and 29 controls were studied. CRS and control samples differed in 13 662 CpGs sites and 1381 DMRs. Top upstream regulators identified included: 1. CRS versus controls: TGFB1, TNF, TP53, DGCR8, and beta-estradiol. 2. CRSwNP versus controls: TGFB1, CTNNB1, lipopolysaccharide, ID2, and TCF7L2. 3. CRSsNP versus controls: MYOD1, acetone, ID2, ST8SIA4, and LEPR.
Conclusions
Differential patterns of methylation were identified between controls and CRS, CRSwNP, and CRSsNP. Epigenetic, environmentally-induced changes related to novel, inflammatory, immunologic, and remodeling pathways appear to affect epithelial integrity, cell proliferation, homeostasis, vascular permeability, and other yet uncharacterized pathways and genes.
Display omitted
•The nanocrystal layers were introduced on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V and TMC by SP.•The nanograin layers were influenced by the shape and distribution of reinforcements.•Smaller ...nanograins near interfaces were formed via the severe deformation of matrix.•The deformation of TiC was more severe than TiB because of the different shapes.•The improved CRS and hardness on surface were due to the nanocrystal layer by SP.
Shot peening (SP) was employed to modify the surface microstructure and mechanical properties of (TiB+TiC)/Ti-6Al-4V titanium matrix composite (TMC). And the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties were characterized and analyzed in detail. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results illustrated that the surface nanograins were introduced by the effect of SP and the hindering of reinforcements to the matrix deformation. The nanograins were formed near the reinforcement/matrix interface because the matrix was squeezed by both the shots and the reinforcements. Moreover, with increasing the volume fraction of reinforcements, the smaller nanograins were introduced near the interfaces due to the severe deformation between the matrix and reinforcements, which were caused by the decrease in average distance between two reinforcements. Under the same intensity of SP, the deformation of TiC was more severe than that of TiB, and more dislocations were introduced around TiC. The results were influenced by both the different shapes and distribution of reinforcements, and the impact direction of shots. After SP, the compressive residual stress (CRS) and the hardness in the peened surface layer were improved, which was due to the surface deformation, nanograins and high dislocation density in the nanocrystal layer.
PDF
