60 research outputs found
Myxofibrosarcoma of the thyroid gland
AbstractIntroductionMyxofibrosarcoma of the thyroid is exceptional: a Medline search found a single case report. We report a new case which raised diagnostic and therapeutic problems.ObservationWe report the case of a 74-year-old woman who presented with swelling of the left thyroid lobe and ipsilateral cervical lymphadenopathy. Total thyroidectomy with cervical lymph-node dissection was performed. Histological analysis diagnosed myxofibrosarcoma. Evolution was marked by rapid local recurrence, and chemotherapy based on doxorubicin and ifosfamide was introduced.Discussion/conclusionHead and neck myxofibrosarcoma is rare. MRI is essential and should always precede treatment. Diagnosis is histological. There is elevated risk of local recurrence after resection, accompanied by worsening tumor grade, whence the need for accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and regular MRI follow-up
Changes in the latency and conduction velocity of the action potential in the vagal trunk of dogs in the TG group before and after surgery.
<p>* The difference before and after surgery was statistically significant (<i>P</i><0.05).</p
Anastomosis of the vagus nerve with the grafted segment of the sural nerve.
<p>The arrow indicates the grafted segment.</p
The anastomosis sites of the grafted nerves.
<p>A. The anastomosis site on the proximal grafted nerve (NF, ×40). The arrow indicates the anastomosis site. B. The anastomosis site on the distal grafted nerve (NF, ×40). The arrow indicates the anastomosis site. C. Negative control. D. The transverse section of the grafted nerve on the proximal grafted nerve. The arrow indicates the nerve fiber bundle. E. Transverse section of the vagus nerve on the distal grafted nerve. The arrow indicates the nerve fiber bundle.</p
Mast cells disrupt the duodenal mucosal integrity: Implications for the mechanisms of barrier dysfunction in functional dyspepsia
Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a common functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder, but its pathophysiology is poorly understood. Mast cells (MCs) may play a critical role in the development of FD. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of MCs on barrier function, tight junction (TJ) proteins and related signaling pathways. The expression of the TJ proteins claudin-8, ZO-1 and occludin in biopsy tissues from seven FD patients and five controls was assessed. Based on the in vivo results, we further investigated the effect of (1) MC degranulation in a coculture model of Caco-2/RBL-2H3 cells and tryptase in Caco-2 monolayers, (2) MC degranulation in the presence or absence of a PAR-2 antagonist and (3) MC degranulation in the presence or absence of an ERK1/2 signaling pathway inhibitor. The epithelial integrity of Caco-2 cell monolayers was assessed by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER). The expression of TJ proteins was evaluated by western blotting, QT-PCR and immunostaining. Epithelial claudin-8, ZO-1 and occludin protein expression were significantly reduced in tissues from FD patients compared with controls. MC degranulation and tryptase decreased the TEER and reduced the expression of TJ proteins in Caco-2 cell monolayers. A PAR-2 antagonist and an ERK1/2 signaling pathway inhibitor significantly reduced the effect of MC degranulation on the TEER and TJ protein expression in Caco-2 cell monolayers. MCs disrupt duodenal barrier function by modulating the levels of TJ proteins, and the PAR-2 and ERK1/2 signaling pathways may mediate the pathogenesis of FD.</p
Gastric emptying and secretion function.
<p>A. Pre- and post-operation average volume of gastric juice secretion in vagotomy and grafted group. The vertical line indicates the i.v. application of insulin. B. Pre- and post-operation maximum acid output in vagotomy and grafted group. C. Pre- and post-operation serum acetaminophen in vagotomy and grafted group. * shows there are significant difference between pre- and post-operation (<i>P</i><0.05). ** shows there are significant difference between vagotomy and grafted group (<i>P</i><0.05).</p
Mie Sensing with Neural Networks: Recognition of Nano-Object Parameters, the Invisibility Point, and Restricted Models
In this work, we use artificial neural networks (ANNs) to recognize the material composition, sizes of nanoparticles and their concentrations in different media with high accuracy, solely from the absorbance spectrum of a macroscopic sample. We construct ANNs operating in the following two schemes. The first scheme is designed to recognize the dimensions and refractive indices of dielectric scatterers in mixed ensembles. The second ANN model simultaneously recognizes the dimensions of gold nanospheres in a mixture and the refractive index of a matrix. A challenge in the first scheme arises at and near the invisibility point, i.e., when the refractive index of nanoparticles is close to that of the medium. Of course, particle recognition in this regime faces fundamental physical limitations. However, such recognition near the invisibility point is possible, and our study reveals its unique properties. Interestingly, the recognition process for the refractive index in the vicinity of the invisibility point shows very small errors. In contrast, the errors for the recognition of the radius grow strongly near this point. Another regime with limited recognition occurs when the extinction spectra are not unique and can correspond to different realizations of nanoparticle mixtures. Regarding multi-particle or polydisperse solutions, the ML-based models should in such cases be rationally restricted to maintain the feasibility of the recognition process. Overall, the recognition schemes proposed and investigated by us can find their applications in the field of sensing
Photothermal Circular Dichroism Induced by Plasmon Resonances in Chiral Metamaterial Absorbers and Bolometers
Chiral photochemistry remains a challenge
because of the very small asymmetry in the chiro-optical absorption of
molecular species. However, we think that the rapidly developing fields of
plasmonic chirality and plasmon-induced circular dichroism demonstrate very
strong chiro-optical effects and have the potential to facilitate the
development of chiral photochemistry and other related applications such as
chiral separation and sensing. In this study, we propose a new type of chiral
spectroscopy – photothermal circular dichroism. It is already known that the
planar plasmonic superabsorbers can be designed to exhibit giant circular
dichroism signals in the reflection. Therefore, upon illumination with chiral
light, such planar metastructures should be able to generate a strong asymmetry
in their local temperatures. Indeed, we demonstrate this chiral photothermal effect
using a chiral plasmonic absorber. Calculated temperature maps show very strong
photothermal circular dichroism. One of the structures computed in this paper could
serve as a chiral bolometer sensitive to circularly polarized light. Overall, this
chiro-optical effect in plasmonic metamaterials is much greater than the
equivalent effect in any chiral molecular system or plasmonic bio-assembly. Potential
applications of this effect are in polarization-sensitive surface photochemistry and chiral bolometers
FeCl<sub>3</sub>·6H<sub>2</sub>O‑Catalyzed Intramolecular Allylic Amination: Synthesis of Substituted Dihydroquinolines and Quinolines
A facile and efficient method to synthesize 2- or 4-substituted
1,2-dihydroquinolines and quinolines catalyzed by FeCl<sub>3</sub>·6H<sub>2</sub>O (2 mol %) was described. The iron-catalyzed
intramolecular allylic amination of 2-aminophenyl-1-en-3-ols proceeded
smoothly to afford 13 1,2-dihydroquinoline and 8 quinoline derivatives
under mild reaction conditions with good to excellent yields (up to
96%)
Plasmonic Glasses and Films Based on Alternative Inexpensive Materials for Blocking Infrared Radiation
The need for energy-saving materials is pressing. This paper reports on
the design of energy-saving glasses and films based on plasmonic
composite glasses is nontrivial and requires to take full advantage of
both materials and shape-related properties of the nanoparticles. We
compute the performance of solar plasmonic glasses incorporating a
transparent matrix and specially-shaped nanocrystals. Plasmonic
nanoshells are shown to exhibit the best performances as compared to
nanorods and nanocups. Simultaneously, the synthesis of plasmonic
nanoshells is technologically feasible using gas-phase fabrication
methods. The computational work was done for noble metals (Au, Ag) as
well as for alternative plasmonic materials (Al, Cu, TiN). Inexpensive
materials (Ag, Al, Cu, TiN) show overall good performance in terms of
the commonly-used figures of merit of industrial glass windows. Together
with numerical data for specific materials, this study includes a set
of general rules for designing efficient plasmonic IR-blocking media.
The plasmonic glasses proposed herein are good candidates for cheap
optical media to be used in energy-saving windows in warm climates'
housing or temperature-sensitive infrastructure
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