1,560 research outputs found
Autofluorescence lifetime augmented reality as a means for real-time robotic surgery guidance in human patients.
Due to loss of tactile feedback the assessment of tumor margins during robotic surgery is based only on visual inspection, which is neither significantly sensitive nor specific. Here we demonstrate time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TRFS) as a novel technique to complement the visual inspection of oral cancers during transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in real-time and without the need for exogenous contrast agents. TRFS enables identification of cancerous tissue by its distinct autofluorescence signature that is associated with the alteration of tissue structure and biochemical profile. A prototype TRFS instrument was integrated synergistically with the da Vinci Surgical robot and the combined system was validated in swine and human patients. Label-free and real-time assessment and visualization of tissue biochemical features during robotic surgery procedure, as demonstrated here, not only has the potential to improve the intraoperative decision making during TORS but also other robotic procedures without modification of conventional clinical protocols
Excitations in the quantum paramagnetic phase of the quasi-one-dimensional Ising magnet CoNbO in a transverse field: Geometric frustration and quantum renormalization effects
The quasi-one-dimensional (1D) Ising ferromagnet CoNbO has recently
been driven via applied transverse magnetic fields through a continuous quantum
phase transition from spontaneous magnetic order to a quantum paramagnet, and
dramatic changes were observed in the spin dynamics, characteristic of weakly
perturbed 1D Ising quantum criticality. We report here extensive single-crystal
inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the magnetic excitations
throughout the three-dimensional (3D) Brillouin zone in the quantum
paramagnetic phase just above the critical field to characterize the effects of
the finite interchain couplings. In this phase, we observe that excitations
have a sharp, resolution-limited line shape at low energies and over most of
the dispersion bandwidth, as expected for spin-flip quasiparticles. We map the
full bandwidth along the strongly dispersive chain direction and resolve clear
modulations of the dispersions in the plane normal to the chains,
characteristic of frustrated interchain couplings in an antiferromagnetic
isosceles triangular lattice. The dispersions can be well parametrized using a
linear spin-wave model that includes interchain couplings and further neighbor
exchanges. The observed dispersion bandwidth along the chain direction is
smaller than that predicted by a linear spin-wave model using exchange values
determined at zero field, and this effect is attributed to quantum
renormalization of the dispersion beyond the spin-wave approximation in fields
slightly above the critical field, where quantum fluctuations are still
significant.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Updated references. Minor changes to text and
figure
Influence of static Jahn-Teller distortion on the magnetic excitation spectrum of PrO2: A synchrotron x-ray and neutron inelastic scattering study
A synchrotron x-ray diffraction study of the crystallographic structure of
PrO2 in the Jahn-Teller distorted phase is reported. The distortion of the
oxygen sublattice, which was previously ambiguous, is shown to be a chiral
structure in which neighbouring oxygen chains have opposite chiralities. A
temperature dependent study of the magnetic excitation spectrum, probed by
neutron inelastic scattering, is also reported. Changes in the energies and
relative intensities of the crystal field transitions provide an insight into
the interplay between the static and dynamic Jahn-Teller effects.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Inelastic neutron scattering studies of Crystal Field Levels in PrOsAs
We use neutron scattering to study the Pr crystalline electric field
(CEF) excitations in the filled skutterudite PrOsAs. By comparing
the observed levels and their strengths under neutron excitation with the
theoretical spectrum and neutron excitation intensities, we identify the
Pr CEF levels, and show that the ground state is a magnetic
triplet, and the excited states ,
and are at 0.4, 13 and 23 meV, respectively. A comparison of the
observed CEF levels in PrOsAs with the heavy fermion superconductor
PrOsSb reveals the microscopic origin of the differences in the
ground states of these two filled skutterudites.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Evidence for SrHo2O4 and SrDy2O4 as model J1-J2 zig-zag chain materials
Neutron diffraction and inelastic spectroscopy is used to characterize the
magnetic Hamiltonian of SrHo2O4 and SrDy2O4. Through a detailed computation of
the crystal-field levels we find site- dependent anisotropic single-ion
magnetism in both materials and diffraction measurements show the presence of
strong one-dimensional spin correlations. Our measurements indicate that
competing interactions of the zig-zag chain, combined with frustrated
interchain interactions, play a crucial role in stabilizing spin-liquid type
correlations in this series.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Effects of acute lying and sleep deprivation on metabolic and inflammatory responses of lactating dairy cows
Dairy cows that are restricted from lying down have a reduced ability to sleep. In other species, sleep loss is a key risk factor for disease, mediated by changes in metabolic and inflammatory responses. The cumulative effect of lying and sleep deprivation on cow health is unknown. The objective was to determine the effects of lying and sleep deprivation on metabolic and inflammatory responses of dairy cows. Data were collected from 8 multiparous and 4 primiparous lactating cows (199 +/- 44 d in milk, 77 +/- 30 d pregnant; mean +/- standard deviation) enrolled in a study using a crossover design. Each cow was exposed to 2 treatments meant to induce sleep loss: (1) human disturbance (imposed by researchers making noise or physical contact when the cow's posture suggested sleep) and (2) lying deprivation (imposed by a wooden grid placed on the pen floor). Cows experienced a 24-h baseline period (d - 1) followed by a 24-h treatment period (d 0), with a 12-d washout period between treatments. Baseline and treatment periods were imposed from 2100 to 2059 h. Cows were housed in individual pens during the acclimation period (d - 3 and - 2), d - 1, and d 0. Nonesterified fatty acid and glucose concentrations were measured at 0300, 0900, 1500, and 2059 h on d - 1 and 0. Proinflammatory cytokine mRNA [tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-1B (IL1B), and interleukin-6 (IL6)] abundance in whole-blood leukocytes, both nonstimulated and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, were assessed at 2059 h on d -1 (end of baseline) and d 0 (end of treatment). Nonesterified fatty acids and glucose varied by time of day but were not affected by treatment or day. The abundances of TNF and IL1B from both stimulated and nonstimulated cells were higher following 24 h of lying deprivation (d 0) compared with baseline (d -1). Abundance of IL6 was increased in nonstimulated cells after lying deprivation compared with baseline. In contrast, human disturbance for 24 h did not alter TNF, IL1B, or IL6 abundance relative to baseline levels. These results suggest that a short period of lying deprivation generally increases inflammatory responses but not metabolic responses.Peer reviewe
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