This study developed high dynamic range photogrammetry for synchronous acquisition of luminance of targets across a scene and their three dimensional coordinates XYZ in the field. The high dynamic ...range photogrammetry deploys a single digital camera. A Canon Rebel T2i fitted with four Sigma lenses was used and calibrated in a laboratory. Photogrammetric coordinates, transformation equations, two lens radial distortion models, a 3D angular measurement tripod head mounted on a portable platform, and a measurement protocol were developed. The high dynamic range photogrammetry was validated in a laboratory experiment. The average errors of 1.8– 6.2% for luminance mapping seven grey checkers and 12.9–24.3 mm for measuring their XYZ coordinates are deemed acceptable in practice. The high dynamic range photogrammetry would supplement light and geometry measurement and stimulate many applications.
Angiogenesis and neurogenesis are crucial processes for brain tissue repair and remodeling after brain injury. Current study shows that microRNA-210 (miR-210) promotes vascular endothelial cell ...migration and tube formation under hypoxia in vitro. Whether miR-210 overexpression promotes focal angiogenesis and neurogenesis in the normal adult brain is unknown. Adult male C57BL/6 mice (n=54) underwent stereotactic injection of a lentiviral vector carrying miR-210 (LV-miR-210). Following 28 days of miR-210 gene transfer, endothelial cell and neural precursor cell proliferation, microvessel density and downstream angiogenic factor were genotyped. miR-210 was highly expressed in neurons, astrocytes and endothelial cells of the LV-miR-210-injected brain hemisphere. The endothelial cell proliferation and the number of newly formed microvessels were greatly increased in the LV-miR-210-treated mice compared with the controls (P<0.05). Neural progenitor cells in the subventricular zone were greatly increased compared with the controls (P<0.05). The data indicate that miR-210 is a key factor at the microRNA level in promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis, which was associated with local increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels, suggesting that miR-210 may be a potential target for ischemic stroke therapy.
In the present study, we fundamentally explore the reasons underlying differences in mechanical properties in hot-rolled 0.2C-1.6Al-6.1Mn-Fe TRIP steels subjected to different heat treatments. ...Comparing with austenite reverted transformation annealing (ART) process, quenching and tempering (Q&T) process was effective in obtain excellent mechanical properties. Q&T (UTS: 902–1235MPa, TEL: 18–42%; ART (UTS: 885–945MPa, TEL: 13–28%). In the ART process, long time annealing led to excessive C and Mn enrichment in austenite, which rendered austenite too stable and deteriorated TRIP effect. Furthermore, long time annealing reduced dislocation density and led to low work-hardening rate. The Q&T process enabled appropriate enrichment of elements and hence desired stability for significant TRIP effect to be observed. Thus, the steel quenched from 625°C exhibited best combination of mechanical properties (UTS: 1038MPa, TEL: 42%, UTS×TEL: 43.6GPa%) because of significant contribution of TRIP effect and high dislocation density in austenite.
POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy and skin changes) is a rare plasma cell dyscrasia sometimes treated with a haematopoietic cell autotransplant. We ...analyzed data from 138 subjects with newly diagnosed POEMS syndrome receiving a autotransplant at our center. Thirty-two subjects with severe end-organ dysfunction ineligible for immediate autotransplant received pretransplant therapy, which made a subsequent autotransplant feasible. Pretransplant therapy resulted in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) remissions in 15 (47%). Thirty-three transplant recipients (24%) had early posttransplant complications. Risk factors for these complications identified through multivariate analysis included age >50 years (odds ratio (OR) 2.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-7.14; P=0.033), time from symptom onset to transplant >5 years (OR 4.71, 95% CI 1.10-20.18; P=0.037) and pleural effusion (OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.26-9.12; P=0.016). Subjects receiving pretransplant therapy had fewer early complications than those who did not (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.04-0.71; P=0.015), especially in subjects with a VEGF remission (OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.01-0.49; P=0.010). Autotransplants resulted in hematological remission in 60 (50%), VEGF remissions in 76 (72%) and improvements in other organ functions (65-90%). The 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 76% (95% CI 64-84%) and 94% (95% CI 87-97%), respectively. Hematological (5-year PFS 83 vs 66%, P=0.008), VEGF (5-year PFS 79 vs 57%, P=0.021) remissions and especially both (5-year PFS 95 vs 61%, P=0.004) were associated with better PFS.
Background
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with improved survival in patients with resectable gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas (G‐NECs) or mixed ...adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas (G‐MANECs).
Methods
The study included patients with G‐NECs or G‐MANECs who underwent surgery in one of 21 centres in China between 2004 and 2016. Propensity score matching analysis was used to reduce selection bias, and overall survival (OS) in different treatment groups was estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method.
Results
In total, 804 patients with resectable G‐NECs or G‐MANECs were included, of whom 490 (60·9 per cent) received adjuvant chemotherapy. After propensity score matching, OS in the chemotherapy group was similar to that in the no‐chemotherapy group. Among patients with G‐NECs, survival in the fluorouracil (5‐FU)‐based chemotherapy group and the non‐5‐FU‐based chemotherapy group was similar to that in the no‐chemotherapy group. Similarly, etoposide plus cisplatin or irinotecan plus cisplatin was not associated with better OS in patients with G‐NECs. Among patients with G‐MANECs, OS in the non‐5‐FU‐based chemotherapy group was worse than that in the no‐chemotherapy group. Patients with G‐MANECs did not have better OS when platinum‐based chemotherapy was
used.
Conclusion
There was no survival benefit in patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy for G‐NECs or G‐MANECs.
Antecedentes
El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar si la quimioterapia adyuvante mejoraba la supervivencia en pacientes con carcinomas gástricos resecables neuroendocrinos (gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas, G‐NECs) y carcinomas adenoneuroendocrinos mixtos (mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas, G‐MANECs).
Métodos
Se incluyeron pacientes con G‐NECs y G‐MANECs tratados quirúrgicamente en 21 centros en China entre 2004 y 2016. Se utilizó un análisis de emparejamiento por puntaje de propensión para reducir el sesgo de selección y el método de Kaplan‐Meier para estimar la supervivencia global (overall survival, OS) de los pacientes en los diferentes grupos de tratamiento.
Resultados
En total, se incluyeron en el estudio 804 pacientes con G‐NECs y G‐MANECs resecables y 490 pacientes (60,9%) recibieron quimioterapia adyuvante. Después del emparejamiento por puntaje de propensión, la OS del grupo con quimioterapia fue similar a la del grupo sin quimioterapia. En los pacientes con G‐NECs, la supervivencia en los grupos con quimioterapia basada en 5‐FU (fluorouracilo) y de quimioterapia sin 5‐FU fue similar a la del grupo sin quimioterapia. Asimismo, la combinación de etopósido y cisplatino o de irinotecán y cisplatino no se asoció con una mejor OS en pacientes con G‐NECs. En pacientes con G‐MANECs, la OS del grupo con quimioterapia sin 5‐FU fue peor que la del grupo sin quimioterapia. Los pacientes con G‐MANECs no presentaron una mejor OS cuando se administró quimioterapia basada en platinos.
Conclusión
La administración de quimioterapia adyuvante en pacientes con G‐NECs y G‐MANECs no mejoró la supervivencia.
This multicentre study enrolled 804 patients with resectable gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas and gastric mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas. In propensity score matching analysis, there were no associations between the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and improved overall survival. Similar results were obtained in stratified analysis according to different chemotherapy regimens.
No benefit
Abstract Background and aims Diet may play an important role in the development of hyperuricemia and gout. However, the association between dietary factors and hyperuricemia remains unclear, and few ...studies have investigated direct links between food intake and hyperuricemia. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between high purine-content foods and protein intake with the prevalence of hyperuricemia by using data from a cross-sectional study of 3978 men aged 40–74 yrs living in Shanghai, China. Methods and Results Hyperuricemia was defined as blood uric acid level >7.0 mg/dl. One quarter of this population had hyperuricemia. Dietary information was collected by using a food frequency questionnaire. We collected information on anthropometric measurements and lifestyle factors and other potential confounding factors and disease history via interviews. Total protein consumption was not associated with hyperuricemia. We found a positive association between protein from animal sources and prevalence of hyperuricemia and an inverse association between protein from plant sources and hyperuricemia. However, these associations failed to reach significance in mutually adjusted analysis. Seafood intake was associated with higher prevalence of hyperuricemia. The ORs for quintiles of seafood intake (including fish and shellfish) were 1.00, 1.49, 1.35, 1.34, and 1.56 (p for trend: 0.01). An inverse association approaching significance between soy food consumption and hyperuricemia was observed (ORs: 1.00, 0.90, 0.70, 0.89, and 0.77 for quintiles of intake; p for trend: 0.07). No associations between consumption of purine-rich vegetables or meat and prevalence of hyperuricemia were observed. Conclusions Our data suggest a direct association between seafood consumption and hyperuricemia and an inverse association between consumption of soy food and hyperuricemia among middle-aged, Chinese men.
This paper studies the max-min weighted signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) problem in the multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) downlink, where multiple users are weighted according to ...priority and are subject to a weighted-sum-power constraint. First, we study the multiple-input-single-output (MISO) and single-input-multiple- output (SIMO) problems using nonlinear Perron-Frobenius theory. As a by-product, we solve the open problem of convergence for a previously proposed MISO algorithm by Wiesel, Eldar, and Shamai in 2006. Furthermore, we unify our analysis with respect to the previous alternate optimization algorithm proposed by Tan, Chiang, and Srikant in 2009, by showing that our MISO result can, in fact, be derived from their algorithm. Next, we combine our MISO and SIMO results into an algorithm for the MIMO problem. We show that our proposed algorithm is optimal when the channels are rank-one, or when the network is operating in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region. Finally, we prove the parametric continuity of the MIMO problem in the power constraint, and we use this insight to propose a heuristic initialization strategy for improving the performance of our (generally) suboptimal MIMO algorithm. The proposed initialization strategy exhibits improved performance over random initialization.
The massive outbreak of highly lethal Ebola hemorrhagic fever in West Africa illustrates the urgent need for diagnostic instruments that can identify and quantify infections rapidly, accurately, and ...with low complexity. Here, we report on-chip sample preparation, amplification-free detection and quantification of Ebola virus on clinical samples using hybrid optofluidic integration. Sample preparation and target preconcentration are implemented on a PDMS-based microfluidic chip (automaton), followed by single nucleic acid fluorescence detection in liquid-core optical waveguides on a silicon chip in under ten minutes. We demonstrate excellent specificity, a limit of detection of 0.2 pfu/mL and a dynamic range of thirteen orders of magnitude, far outperforming other amplification-free methods. This chip-scale approach and reduced complexity compared to gold standard RT-PCR methods is ideal for portable instruments that can provide immediate diagnosis and continued monitoring of infectious diseases at the point-of-care.
PDF
