We studied the static and dynamic performance of high-speed Zn-diffusion vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) (at an 850-nm optical wavelength) as affected by different Zn-diffusion ...depths. Device A has the largest Zn-diffusion depth (~1.3 mum) and can sustain single-mode operations under a whole range of bias currents, exhibiting the largest differential quantum efficiency and smallest far-field divergence angle. Devices B and C have smaller Zn-diffusion depths (0.5 mum for device B and 0 mum for device C) and exhibit poorer multimode performance. However, due to the serious spatial hole burning effect of device A, induced by its single-spot and high-power output, the measured electrical-to-optical (EO) frequency response of device A shows a more serious (>3 dB) low-frequency (<2 GHz) rolloff than does that of the other two devices. Although device B (with a shallow Zn-diffusion depth) shows multimode performance, with it we can minimize the low-frequency roll-off problem, due to its more uniform photon density distribution and less spatial-hole burning effect than that of device A. Using device B, we can achieve an 11-GHz 3-dB bandwidth, the highest modulation current efficiency ( ~ 8 GHz/mA 1/2 ), and clear eye-opening at 10 Gb/s operation, with the lowest dc and radio frequency power consumption among the three devices. These measurement results indicate that the dynamic and static performance of high-speed VCSELs can be optimized by controlling the Zn-diffusion depth, and manipulating the number of optical modes in the VCSEL cavity.
We propose a novel Generative Adversarial Network (XingGAN or CrossingGAN) for person image generation tasks, i.e., translating the pose of a given person to a desired one. The proposed Xing ...generator consists of two generation branches that model the person's appearance and shape information, respectively. Moreover, we propose two novel blocks to effectively transfer and update the person's shape and appearance embeddings in a crossing way to mutually improve each other, which has not been considered by any other existing GAN-based image generation work. Extensive experiments on two challenging datasets, i.e., Market-1501 and DeepFashion, demonstrate that the proposed XingGAN advances the state-of-the-art performance both in terms of objective quantitative scores and subjective visual realness. The source code and trained models are available at https://github.com/Ha0Tang/XingGAN.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were generated in all oxygen-utilizing organisms. Peroxiredoxin II (Prx II) as one of antioxidant enzymes may play a protective role against the oxidative damage caused ...by ROS. In order to define the role of Prx II in organismal aging, we evaluated cellular senescence in Prx II
−/− mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF). As compared to wild type MEF, cellular senescence was accelerated in Prx II
−/− MEF. Senescence-associated (SA)-β-galactosidase (Gal)-positive cell formation was about 30% higher in Prx II
−/− MEF.
N-Acetyl-
l-cysteine (NAC) treatment attenuated SA-β-Gal-positive cell formation. Prx II
−/− MEF exhibited the higher G2/M (41%) and lower S (1.6%) phase cells as compared to 24% and 7.4% in wild type MEF, respectively. A high increase in the p16 and a slight increase in the p21 and p53 levels were detected in PrxII
−/− MEF cells. The cellular senescence of Prx II
−/− MEF was correlated with the organismal aging of Prx II
−/− mouse skin. While extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 activation was detected in Prx II
−/− MEF, ERK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation was detected in Prx II
−/− skin. These results suggest that Prx II may function as an enzymatic antioxidant to prevent cellular senescence and skin aging.
Single‐crystalline KTa0.25Nb0.75O3 (KTN) nanorods with an orthorhombic perovskite structure were synthesized via a polymer‐assisted hydrothermal method. The preferred crystallographic orientation of ...the nanorods were found to be controllable by using different types of polymers in the process; that is, 001‐oriented KTN were obtained upon the use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and 110‐oriented ones were formed with the use of a combination of polyacrylic acid and PVA. The two types of nanorods showed different properties. The 110‐oriented nanorods exhibited a better photocatalytic decolorization efficiency but very likely a lower thermal conductivity (as indicated by the Raman spectrum measurements) than the 001 nanorods.
To study red cell transfusion practice in 3216 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) cases in 11 hospitals in 1988, abstracted patient records were stratified by diagnosis related group (DRG) (that is, ...DRG 106, coronary artery bypass without catheterization, or DRG 107, coronary artery bypass with catheterization) and International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) surgical procedure code. Means of units per transfused patient, age and length of stay, and in-hospital mortality rates were significantly greater for patients in DRG 106 than DRG 107. Gender was a significant factor for transfusion outcomes; female patients were more likely to undergo transfusion, and, when transfused, they received more units of red cells than male patients. For a given DRG/ICD-9-CM surgical procedure class, significant differences were found between hospitals in the percentage of patients transfused, but not in mean units of red cells per transfused patient. However, within individual hospitals, the proportion of patients transfused and the number of units per transfused patient did not vary significantly across DRG/ICD-9-CM procedure classes. These results suggest that circumstances operating within a hospital, still to be identified, had more influence on transfusion decisions than the nature of the surgical intervention.
Osteoclasts, multinuclear cells specialized for bone resorption, differentiate from the monocyte/macrophage lineage of hematopoietic cells. Intervention in osteoclast differentiation is considered an ...effective therapeutic approach to the treatment of bone diseases involving osteoclasts. In this study, we found that tanshinone IIA, originating from
Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, inhibited the differentiation of osteoclasts. Addition of tanshinone IIA to the osteoclast precursor culture caused a significant decrease in the level of calcitonin receptor, c-Src, and integrin β3 mRNA, which are normally upregulated during the osteoclast differentiation dependent on RANKL (receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand). RANKL activated the ERK, Akt, and NF-κB signal transduction pathways in osteoclast precursor cells, and tanshinone IIA suppressed this activation. Tanshinone IIA also inhibited the bone resorptive activity of differentiated osteoclasts, which was accompanied with the disruption of the actin ring. Thus, tanshinone IIA has the potential to ameliorate bone-resorption diseases in vivo by reducing both the number and activity of osteoclasts.
Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) coupled with a slow positron beam has been used to study the freevolume depth profile (0–10 μm) in polymeric membrane systems prepared by the interfacial ...polymerization method. Doppler broadening energy parameters of annihilation radiation vary as a function of the depth from the surface through multi-layers in polyamide asymmetric membranes prepared under different experimental parameters, such as the time, the temperature, and pH of membrane preparation process of interfacial polymerization. Three layer structures including a skin, a transition, and the porous layers in those asymmetric membrane systems are obtained. Positron annihilation lifetime results provide additional information about free-volume size and distribution in nano- and micro-scale film membrane systems. PAS results are correlated with the pervaporation separation, flux and water wt% in permeate of 70% isopropanol aqueous solution and compared with the SEM images.
Risk factors for scabies in Taiwan Wang, Chun-Hao; Lee, Sai-Cheong; Huang, Shie-Shian ...
Journal of microbiology, immunology and infection,
08/2012, Letnik:
45, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Background Scabies is a global problem. Transmission of scabies is usually due to direct or indirect contact. Delay in diagnosis may result in the spread of the scabies mite. Prompt diagnosis and ...treatment are important. Methods In this study, we collected data from 52 scabies patients and analyzed the risk factors for scabies with the case-control method. Results Our study has revealed that the patients who were bedridden odds ratio (OR) 6.72, p < 0.0001, living in a nursing home (OR 9.89, p < 0.0001), had a higher clinical severity status before admission (OR 1.25, p < 0.0001), and a catheter inserted (including nasogastric tube, Foley catheter, Port-A, or Hickman catheter) (OR 9.05, p < 0.0001) were significantly more likely to acquire scabies infection. Conclusion To prevent scabies, proper management of the nursing home setting, including adequate cleaning of the contaminated clothing, bedding and equipment, in combination with treating all suspected scabies patients, and contact isolation are important and necessary.
PDF
