378 research outputs found
Explicit Hopcroft's Trick in Categorical Partition Refinement
Algorithms for partition refinement are actively studied for a variety of
systems, often with the optimisation called Hopcroft's trick. However, the
low-level description of those algorithms in the literature often obscures the
essence of Hopcroft's trick. Our contribution is twofold. Firstly, we present a
novel formulation of Hopcroft's trick in terms of general trees with weights.
This clean and explicit formulation -- we call it Hopcroft's inequality -- is
crucially used in our second contribution, namely a general partition
refinement algorithm that is \emph{functor-generic} (i.e. it works for a
variety of systems such as (non-)deterministic automata and Markov chains).
Here we build on recent works on coalgebraic partition refinement but depart
from them with the use of fibrations. In particular, our fibrational notion of
-partitioning exposes a concrete tree structure to which Hopcroft's
inequality readily applies. It is notable that our fibrational framework
accommodates such algorithmic analysis on the categorical level of abstraction
MRI and CT features of a malignant myoepithelioma of the scrotum : A case report and literature review
Malignant myoepithelioma of the scrotum is extremely rare. We report the case of a 51-year-old man with malignant myoepithelioma of the scrotum, wherein computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a lobulated soft tissue mass with calcification, cystic component, and solid component with gradual contrast enhancement on dynamic contrast-enhanced scans. The patient presented with scrotal induration, and there was no elevation of tumor markers and no evidence of a metastatic lesion on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Histopathological examination of the resected scrotal specimen confirmed a well-circumscribed solid tumor with septa, a small area of hemorrhage, and necrosis. The subsequent diagnosis was malignant myoepithelioma of the scrotum. This case shows that scrotal malignant myoepithelioma might appear as a well-defined lobulated mass with cystic regions. We conjecture that the enhancement pattern and apparent diffusion coefficient values can be potential markers for scrotal myoepithelial tumors
Large Population of ALMA Galaxies at z>6 with Very High [OIII]88um to [CII]158um Flux Ratios: Evidence of Extremely High Ionization Parameter or PDR Deficit?
We present our new ALMA observations targeting [OIII]88um, [CII]158um,
[NII]122um, and dust continuum emission for three Lyman break galaxies at
z=6.0293-6.2037 identified in the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam survey. We clearly
detect [OIII] and [CII] lines from all of the galaxies at 4.3-11.8sigma levels,
and identify multi-band dust continuum emission in two of the three galaxies,
allowing us to estimate infrared luminosities and dust temperatures
simultaneously. In conjunction with previous ALMA observations for six galaxies
at z>6, we confirm that all the nine z=6-9 galaxies have high [OIII]/[CII]
ratios of L[OIII]/L[CII]~3-20, ~10 times higher than z~0 galaxies. We also find
a positive correlation between the [OIII]/[CII] ratio and the Lya equivalent
width (EW) at the ~90% confidence level. We carefully investigate physical
origins of the high [OIII]/[CII] ratios at z=6-9 using Cloudy, and find that
high density of the interstellar medium, low C/O abundance ratio, and the
cosmic microwave background attenuation are responsible to only a part of the
z=6-9 galaxies. Instead, the observed high [OIII]/[CII] ratios are explained by
10-100 times higher ionization parameters or low photodissociation region (PDR)
covering fractions of 0-10%, both of which are consistent with our [NII]
observations. The latter scenario can be reproduced with a density bounded
nebula with PDR deficit, which would enhance the Lya, Lyman continuum, and C+
ionizing photons escape from galaxies, consistent with the [OIII]/[CII]-Lya EW
correlation we find.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
Peripheral Administration of Morphine Attenuates Postincisional Pain by Regulating Macrophage Polarization through COX-2-Dependent Pathway
BACKGROUND: Macrophage infiltration to inflammatory sites promotes wound repair and may be involved in pain hypersensitivity after surgical incision. We recently reported that the development of hyperalgesia during chronic inflammation is regulated by macrophage polarity, often referred to as proinflammatory (M1) or anti-inflammatory (M2) macrophages. Although opioids such as morphine are known to alter the inflammatory milieu of incisional wounds through interactions with immunocytes, the macrophage-mediated effects of morphine on the development of postincisional pain have not been well investigated. In this study, we examined how morphine alters pain hypersensitivity through phenotypic shifts in local macrophages during the course of incision-induced inflammation. RESULTS: Local administration of morphine in the early phase, but not in the late phase alleviated mechanical hyperalgesia, and this effect was reversed by clodronate-induced peripheral depletion of local macrophages. At the morphine-injected incisional sites, the number of pro-inflammatory F4/80(+)iNOS(+)M1 macrophages was decreased during the course of pain development whereas increased infiltration of wound healing F4/80(+)CD206(+)M2 macrophages was observed during the early phase. Morphine increased the gene expression of endogenous opioid, proenkephalin, and decreased the pronociceptive cytokine, interleukin-1β. Heme oxygenase (HO)-1 promotes the differentiation of macrophages to the M2 phenotype. An inhibitor of HO-1, tin protoporphyrin reversed morphine-induced analgesic effects and the changes in macrophage phenotype. However, local expression levels of HO-1 were not altered by morphine. Conversely, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, primarily produced from peripheral macrophages in acute inflammation states, was up-regulated in the early phase at morphine-injected sites. In addition, the analgesic effects and a phenotype switching of infiltrated macrophages by morphine was reversed by local administration of a COX inhibitor, indomethacin. CONCLUSIONS: Local administration of morphine alleviated the development of postincisional pain, possibly by altering macrophage polarity at the incisional sites. A morphine-induced shift in macrophage phenotype may be mediated by a COX-2-dependent mechanism. Therefore, μ-opioid receptor signaling in macrophages may be a potential therapeutic target during the early phase of postincisional pain development
The Short Term Effects of Organic Matter and Ripping on Degraded Soil in Western Australia
Abstract: The effect of wheat bran and ripping application on degraded soil such as saline soil, compacted soil and low fertile soil in Western Australia was investigated from the chemical and biological points of view. Ripping decreased ECe because of leaching of water soluble cation from topsoil. Wheat bran increased soil fertility due to enhanced enzyme activity. Potassium from bran displaced exchangeable sodium in soil, and resulted in reduction of soil dispersion and was absorbed by barley grain. Wheat bran increased number of spikelet and grain yield in degraded soil
SILVERRUSH. III. Deep Optical and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for Lya and UV-Nebular Lines of Bright Lya Emitters at z=6-7
We present Lya and UV-nebular emission line properties of bright Lya emitters
(LAEs) at z=6-7 with a luminosity of log L_Lya/[erg s-1] = 43-44 identified in
the 21-deg2 area of the SILVERRUSH early sample developed with the Subaru Hyper
Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey data. Our optical spectroscopy newly confirm 21 bright
LAEs with clear Lya emission, and contribute to make a spectroscopic sample of
96 LAEs at z=6-7 in SILVERRUSH. From the spectroscopic sample, we select 7
remarkable LAEs as bright as Himiko and CR7 objects, and perform deep
Keck/MOSFIRE and Subaru/nuMOIRCS near-infrared spectroscopy reaching the
3sigma-flux limit of ~ 2x10^{-18} erg s-1 for the UV-nebular emission lines of
He II1640, C IV1548,1550, and O III]1661,1666. Except for one tentative
detection of C IV, we find no strong UV-nebular lines down to the flux limit,
placing the upper limits of the rest-frame equivalent widths (EW_0) of ~2-4 A
for He II, C IV, and O III] lines. Here we also investigate the VLT/X-SHOOTER
spectrum of CR7 whose 6 sigma detection of He II is claimed by Sobral et al.
Although two individuals and the ESO-archive service carefully re-analyze the
X-SHOOTER data that are used in the study of Sobral et al., no He II signal of
CR7 is detected, supportive of weak UV-nebular lines of the bright LAEs even
for CR7. Spectral properties of these bright LAEs are thus clearly different
from those of faint dropouts at z~7 that have strong UV-nebular lines shown in
the various studies. Comparing these bright LAEs and the faint dropouts, we
find anti-correlations between the UV-nebular line EW_0 and UV-continuum
luminosity, which are similar to those found at z~2-3.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in PASJ special issu
Controlled Cracking of Large Size Concrete Structures by a Steam Pressure Cracking Agent
The dismantling of large concrete structures causes environmental pollution due to the dispersion of polluted micro-particles. The purpose of this study is to develop an environmentally friendly demolition method. Steam pressure cracking (SPC) is a method that can safely and quickly separate concrete because there is less vibration compared to the explosion method. To date, the authors have shown that the direction of cracking in a small sample can be controlled by an induction hole. The principle of control is that the elastic wave of compression stress generated from the SPC reaction changes to a tensile elastic wave at the induction hole, and a crack is initiated. In this study, it was shown that the direction of crack propagation can be controlled by using induction holes in large concrete structures that are 1m on each side. Further, in the SPC method, the large amount of concrete powder generated by the explosion method is not produced, and there is no risk of secondary contamination by fine concrete powder. It was also possible to separate small pieces from the end face of the large concrete by SPC and induction holes. The area over which the crack propagated depends on the energy generated from the SPC agent, and the relationship was linear. By applying an SPC agent to dismantling large concrete structures, we can achieve controlled cracking safely and quickly without any environmental pollution. 
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