2,122 research outputs found
Clinical analysis of acute anterior uveitis in 215 cases
AIM: To analyze the etiology, therapeutic effects,risk of relapse and prognosis of acute anterior uveitis.<p>MEHTODS: Medical history of 215 patients with acute anterior uveitis who underwent treatment in Department of Ophthalmology, People's Hospital of Fenghua was collected, together with results of clinical examinations and auxiliary examinations. The data were studied in terms of therapeutic effects, etiological factors, prognosis and relapse rate. <p>RESULTS: In 85 cases(39.5%), the cause was identified, and among the among the most frequent causes were traumatic or surgical injury, viral infection and glaucomatocyclitic crisis. After treatment, the best corrected visual acuity was no less than 1.0 in 153 cases(71.2%), between 0.5 and 1.0 in 55 cases(25.6%), between 0.3 and 0.5 in 4 cases(1.9%), between 0.05 and 0.3 in 2 cases(0.9%), and less than 0.05 in 1 case(0.5%). During the follow-up of more than 6 months, relapse occurred in 4 cases(1.9%)during 4-6 months, in 7 cases(3.2%)during 7-12 months, in 10 cases(4.7%)during 13-24 months, and in 3 cases(1.4%)during 25-60 months. <p>CONCLUSION: The etiology of acute anterior uveitis is complicated and mostly idiopathic. Vision prognosis is good after treatment, but therelapse rate is high and can cause visual impairment, so better understanding should be gained of its relapse and its prevention and early treatment should be emphasized
Quantized charge-pumping in higher-order topological insulators
We study the quantized charge pumping of higher-order topological insulators
(HOTIs) with edge-corner correspondences based on the combination of the
rotation of in-plane magnetic field and the quantum spin Hall effect. A picture
of a specific charge pumping process is uncovered with the help of the
non-equilibrium Green's function method. Significantly, we demonstrate that the
quantized charge pumping current is achieved without the participation of bulk
states, and the charges move along the boundary of the sample. Furthermore, the
effects of external parameters on the pumping current is also studied. We find
that the magnitude and direction of the pumping current can be manipulated by
adjusting the coupling strength between the leads and sample. Our work deepens
the understanding of the charge pumping in HOTIs and extends the study of their
transport properties.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
On Khintchine exponents and Lyapunov exponents of continued fractions
Assume that admits its continued fraction expansion . The Khintchine exponent of is defined by
when
the limit exists. Khintchine spectrum is fully studied, where and denotes the
Hausdorff dimension. In particular, we prove the remarkable fact that the
Khintchine spectrum , as function of , is
neither concave nor convex. This is a new phenomenon from the usual point of
view of multifractal analysis. Fast Khintchine exponents defined by
are also studied, where tends to the infinity faster than
does. Under some regular conditions on , it is proved that the fast
Khintchine spectrum is a
constant function. Our method also works for other spectra like the Lyapunov
spectrum and the fast Lyapunov spectrum.Comment: 37 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Ergodic Theory and Dyanmical System
The universal "heartbeat" oscillations in black hole systems accross the mass-scale
The hyperluminous X-ray source (HLX-1, the peak X-ray luminosity ) near the spiral galaxy ESO 243-49 is possibly the best
candidate for intermediate mass black hole (IMBH), which underwent recurrent
outbursts with a period of days. The physical reason for this
quasi-periodic variability is still unclear. We explore the possibility of
radiation-pressure instability in accretion disk by modeling the light curve of
HLX-1, and find that it can roughly reproduce the duration, period and
amplitude of the recurrent outbursts HLX-1 with an IMBH of ~10^5Msun. Our
result provides a possible mechanism to explain the recurrent outbursts in
HLX-1. We further find a universal correlation between the outburst duration
and the bolometric luminosity for the BH sources with a very broad mass range
(e.g., X-ray binaries, XRBs, HLX-1 and active galactic nuclei, AGNs), which is
roughly consistent with the prediction of radiation-pressure instability of the
accretion disk. These results imply that "heartbeat" oscillations triggered by
radiation-pressure instability may appears in different-scale BH systems.Comment: ApJ in press; 15 pages, 5 Figure
Efficient EGFR signaling and dorsalâventral axis patterning requires syntaxin dependent Gurken trafficking
AbstractVesicle trafficking plays a crucial role in the establishment of cell polarity in various cellular contexts, including axis-pattern formation in the developing egg chamber of Drosophila. The EGFR ligand, Gurken (Grk), is first localized at the posterior of young oocytes for anteriorâposterior axis formation and later in the dorsal anterior region for induction of the dorsalâventral (DV) axis, but regulation of Grk localization by membrane trafficking in the oocyte remains poorly understood. Here, we report that Syntaxin 1A (Syx1A) is required for efficient trafficking of Grk protein for DV patterning. We show that Syx1A is associated with the Golgi membrane and is required for the transportation of Grk-containing vesicles along the microtubules to their dorsal anterior destination in the oocyte. Our studies reveal that the Syx1A dependent trafficking of Grk protein is required for efficient EGFR signaling during DV patterning
An Outbreak of Coxsackievirus A16 Infection: Comparison With Other Enteroviruses in a Preschool in Taipei
Background/PurposeThe transmission rate of enteroviruses in young children remains unclear. Therefore, we carried out active surveillance in preschool children to investigate the transmission rate and clinical manifestation of enteroviruses.MethodsFrom September 2006 to December 2008, we monitored infectious diseases in children 2(â3 years of age) in a preschool in Taipei. If any child had a febrile illness or symptoms/signs of enteroviral infection [e.g. herpangina or hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD)], we performed viral isolation and enterovirus polymerase chain reaction. VP1 sequencing was performed to define their serotypes. We also collected clinical data and analyzed transmission rates.ResultsThere were eight episodes of enterovirus infection during the study period. The serotypes included coxsackievirus A4 (CA4), CA2 and CA16. The transmission rates of CA4 and CA2 among children in same class were 26% and 35%, respectively. Between November 28 and December 12, 2008, 13/21 (61.9%) children contracted herpangina and/or HFMD. The average age was 2.82 (range, 2.43â3.39) years. CA16 was detected in 10/13 (76.9%) of the throat swabs by polymerase chain reaction VP1 genotyping. Compared with previous CA2 and CA4 outbreaks, CA16 had a significantly higher transmission rate (p = 0.035) and resulted in more cases of HFMD (p < 0.001). The transmission duration of coxsackie A viruses within the same class ranged from 12 to 40 days.ConclusionCompared with CA2 and CA4, CA16 infections resulted in more cases of HFMD and had significantly higher transmission rates in preschoolers
Changes of monocyte human leukocyte antigen-DR expression as a reliable predictor of mortality in severe sepsis
INTRODUCTION: Many studies have shown that monocyte human leukocyte antigen-DR (mHLA-DR) expression may be a good predictor for mortality in severe septic patients. On the contrary, other studies found mHLA-DR was not a useful prognostic marker in severe sepsis. Few studies have taken changes of mHLA-DR during treatment into consideration. The objective of this study was to estimate the prognostic value of changes of mHLA-DR to predict mortality in severe sepsis. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, mHLA-DR was measured by flow cytometry in peripheral blood from 79 adult patients with severe sepsis. mHLA-DR levels were determined on day 0, 3, 7 after admission to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) with a diagnosis of severe sepsis. ÎmHLA-DR(3 )and ÎmHLA-DR(7 )were defined as the changes in mHLA-DR value on day 3 and day 7 compared to that on day 0. Data were compared between 28-day survivors and non-survivors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to measure the performance and discriminating threshold of ÎmHLA-DR(3), ÎmHLA-DR(7), ÎmHLA-DR(7-3), mHLA-DR(0), mHLA-DR(3 )and mHLA-DR(7 )in predicting mortality of severe sepsis. RESULTS: ROC curve analysis showed that ÎmHLA-DR(3 )and ÎmHLA-DR(7 )were reliable indicators of mortality in severe sepsis. A ÎmHLA-DR(3 )value of 4.8% allowed discrimination between survivors and non-survivors with a sensitivity of 89.0% and a specificity of 93.7%; similarly, ÎmHLA-DR(7 )value of 9% allowed discrimination between survivors and non-survivors with a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 90.0%. Patients with ÎmHLA-DR(3 )â€4.8% had higher mortality than those with ÎmHLA-DR(3 )> 4.8% (71.4% vs. 2.0%, OR 125.00, 95% CI 13.93 to 1121.67); patients with ÎmHLA-DR(7 )â€9% had higher mortality than those with ÎmHLA-DR(7 )> 9% (52.9% vs. 2.0%, OR 54.00, 95% CI 5.99 to 486.08). The mean change of mHLA-DR significantly increased in the survivor group with the passage of time; from day 0 to day 3 and day 7, changes were 6.45 and 16.90 (P < 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The change of mHLA-DR over time may be a reliable predictor for mortality in patients with severe sepsis
Association of smoking, alcohol drinking and dietary factors with esophageal cancer in high- and low-risk areas of Jiangsu Province, China
To study the main environmental and lifestyle factors that account for the regional differences in esophageal cancer (EC) risk in low- and high-risk areas of Jiangsu Province, China. Since 2003, a population-based casecontrol study has been conducted simultaneously in lowrisk (Ganyu County) and high-risk (Dafeng County) areas of Jiangsu Province, China. Using identical protocols and pre-tested standardized questionnaire, following written informed consent, eligible subjects were inquired about their detail information on potential determinants of EC, including demographic information, socio-economic status, living conditions, disease history, family cancer history, smoking, alcohol drinking, dietary habits, frequency, amount of food intake, etc. Conditional logistic regression with maximum likelihood estimation was used to obtain Odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confi dence interval (95% CI), after adjustment for potential confounders In the preliminary analysis of the ongoing study, we recruited 291 pairs of cases and controls in Dafeng and 240 pairs of cases and controls in Ganyu, respectively. In both low-risk and high-risk areas, EC was inversely associated with socio-economic status, such as level of education, past economic status and body mass index. However, this disease was more frequent among those who had a family history of cancer or encountered misfortune in the past 10 years. EC was also more frequent among smokers, alcohol drinkers and fast eaters. Furthermore, there was a geographic variation of the associations between smoking, alcohol drinking and EC risk despite the similar prevalence of these risk factors in both low-risk and high-risk areas. The dose-response relationship of smoking and smoking related variables, such as age of the fi rst smoking, duration and amount were apparent only in high-risk areas. On the contrary, a dose-response relationship on the effect of alcohol drinking on EC was observed only in low-risk area
Toxicologic effects of gold nanoparticles in vivo by different administration routes
Gold nanoparticles have potential applications in biomedicine, but one of the important concerns is about their safety. Most toxicology data are derived from in vitro studies and may not reflect in vivo responses. Here, an animal toxicity study of 13.5 nm gold nanoparticles in mice is presented. Animal survival, weight, hematology, morphology, and organ index are characterized at different concentrations (137.5â2200 ÎŒg/kg) over 14â28 days. The results show that low concentrations of gold nanoparticles do not cause an obvious decrease in body weight or appreciable toxicity, even after their breakdown in vivo. High concentrations of gold nanoparticles induced decreases in body weight, red blood cells, and hematocrit. It was also found that gold nanoparticles administered orally caused significant decreases in body weight, spleen index, and red blood cells. Of the three administration routes, the oral and intraperitoneal routes showed the highest toxicity, and the tail vein injection showed the lowest toxicity. Combining the results of all of these studies, we suggest that targeted gold nanopartices by tail vein injection may be suitable for enhancement of radiotherapy, photothermal therapy, and related medical diagnostic procedures
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