Three-Dimensional Myoarchitecture of the Lower Esophageal Sphincter and Esophageal Hiatus Using Optical Sectioning Microscopy.

Studies to date have failed to reveal the anatomical counterpart of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). We assessed the LES and esophageal hiatus morphology using a block containing the human LES and crural diaphragm, serially sectioned at 50 μm intervals and imaged at 8.2 μm/pixel resolution. A 3D reconstruction of the tissue block was reconstructed in which each of the 652 cross sectional images were also segmented to identify the boundaries of longitudinal (LM) and circular muscle (CM) layers. The CM fascicles on the ventral surface of LES are arranged in a helical/spiral fashion. On the other hand, the CM fascicles from the two sides cross midline on dorsal surface and continue as sling/oblique muscle on the stomach. Some of the LM fascicles of the esophagus leave the esophagus to enter into the crural diaphragm and the remainder terminate into the sling fibers of the stomach. The muscle fascicles of the right crus of diaphragm which form the esophageal hiatus are arranged like a "noose" around the esophagus. We propose that circumferential squeeze of the LES and crural diaphragm is generated by a unique myo-architectural design, each of which forms a "noose" around the esophagus

Early 20th Century Industrialization: Equitable Income Growth Through Manufacturing Productivity Improvement

The rapid industrialization occurring from the late 19th century into the early 20th century provides the opportunity to delve into the impacts it brought for American life. The goal of this paper is to assess how changes in labor productivity from the rise of industrialization impacted total, personal, and corporate income per capita at the state level. To test this relationship, we use data from the Statistics of Income Report and the Statistical Abstract of the United States in order to collect information for the necessary regressions to conduct this study. Using several different channels in order to hypothesize potential outcomes, we highlight the uncertainty brought forward with potential theories providing an explanation for both positive and negative relationships between labor productivity and income per capita. Carrying out our regressions, our results indicate a statistically significant and positive relationship between labor productivity and total, personal, and corporate income per capita. Personal income per capita led with the highest coefficient, potentially demonstrating that workers benefited the most from the increase in labor productivity. This finding allows for discussion into equitable income growth, where the growth in income from the rise of manufacturing productivity happens to benefit the workers more than large capital owners such as corporations

Quasi-Bernoulli Stick-breaking: Infinite Mixture with Cluster Consistency

In mixture modeling and clustering application, the number of components is often not known. The stick-breaking model is an appealing construction that assumes infinitely many components, while shrinking most of the redundant weights to near zero. However, it has been discovered that such a shrinkage is unsatisfactory: even when the component distribution is correctly specified, small and spurious weights will appear and give an inconsistent estimate on the cluster number. In this article, we propose a simple solution that gains stronger control on the redundant weights -- when breaking each stick into two pieces, we adjust the length of the second piece by multiplying it to a quasi-Bernoulli random variable, supported at one and a positive constant close to zero. This substantially increases the chance of shrinking {\em all} the redundant weights to almost zero, leading to a consistent estimator on the cluster number; at the same time, it avoids the singularity due to assigning an exactly zero weight, and maintains a support in the infinite-dimensional space. As a stick-breaking model, its posterior computation can be carried out efficiently via the classic blocked Gibbs sampler, allowing straightforward extension of using non-Gaussian components. Compared to existing methods, our model demonstrates much superior performances in the simulations and data application, showing a substantial reduction in the number of clusters.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Fama's hypotheses of the relationship between inflation and nominal interest rates : an international comparison

Includes bibliographical references (p. 21)

Simulation and analysis of spatio-temporal maps of gastrointestinal motility

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spatio-temporal (ST) maps provide a method for visualizing a temporally evolving and spatially varying field, which can also be used in the analysis of gastrointestinal motility. However, it is not always clear what the underlying contractions are that are represented in ST maps and whether some types of contractions are poorly represented or possibly not at all.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To analyze the translation from stationary or propagating rhythmic contractions of the intestine to ST maps, a simulation program was used to represent different patterns of intestinal contraction and to construct their corresponding ST maps. A number of different types of contractions were simulated and their ST maps analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Circular strong contractions were well represented in ST maps as well as their frequency and velocity. Longitudinal contractions were not detected at all. Combinations of circular and longitudinal contractions were, to a limited extent detectable at a point in space and time. The method also enabled the construction of specific ST-patterns to mimic real-life ST maps and the analysis of the corresponding contraction patterns.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Spatio-temporal simulations provide a method to understand, teach and analyze ST maps. This approach could be useful to determine characteristics of contractions under a variety of circumstances.</p

The Log Product Formula in quantum KK-theory

We prove a formula expressing the $K$-theoretic log Gromov-Witten invariants of a product of log smooth varieties $V \times W$ in terms of the invariants of $V$ and $W$. The proof requires introducing log virtual fundamental classes in $K$-theory and verifying their various functorial properties. We introduce a log version of $K$-theory and prove the formula there as well.Comment: 21 pages, comments welcome! v2: 27 pages, example added distinguishing log Gysin map from ordinary on

A model of blood flow in the mesenteric arterial system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are some early clinical indicators of cardiac ischemia, most notably a change in a person's electrocardiogram. Less well understood, but potentially just as dangerous, is ischemia that develops in the gastrointestinal system. Such ischemia is difficult to diagnose without angiography (an invasive and time-consuming procedure) mainly due to the highly unspecific nature of the disease.</p> <p>Understanding how perfusion is affected during ischemic conditions can be a useful clinical tool which can help clinicians during the diagnosis process. As a first step towards this final goal, a computational model of the gastrointestinal system has been developed and used to simulate realistic blood flow during normal conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An anatomically and biophysically based model of the major mesenteric arteries has been developed to be used to simulate normal blood flows. The computational mesh used for the simulations has been generated using data from the Visible Human project. The 3D Navier-Stokes equations that govern flow within this mesh have been simplified to an efficient 1D scheme. This scheme, together with a constitutive pressure-radius relationship, has been solved numerically for pressure, vessel radius and velocity for the entire mesenteric arterial network.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The computational model developed shows close agreement with physiologically realistic geometries other researchers have recorded <it>in vivo</it>. Using this model as a framework, results were analyzed for the four distinct phases of the cardiac cycle – diastole, isovolumic contraction, ejection and isovolumic relaxation. Profiles showing the temporally varying pressure and velocity for a periodic input varying between 10.2 kPa (77 mmHg) and 14.6 kPa (110 mmHg) at the abdominal aorta are presented. An analytical solution has been developed to model blood flow in tapering vessels and when compared with the numerical solution, showed excellent agreement.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An anatomically and physiologically realistic computational model of the major mesenteric arteries has been developed for the gastrointestinal system. Using this model, blood flow has been simulated which show physiologically realistic flow profiles.</p

Non-destructive quantitation of spermine in human prostate tissue samples using HRMAS 1H NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 T

AbstractWe present the results of a study of human prostate specimens evaluated by high resolution magic angle spinning 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at 400 MHz (9.4 T) and by quantitative histopathology. We demonstrate that NMR and pathology data can be obtained from the same intact specimens, and report for the first time a linear correlation between the NMR measured concentration of spermine, a proposed endogenous inhibitor to prostate cancer growth, and the volume percentage of normal prostatic epithelial cells as quantified by histopathology. Our results show that NMR may serve as a critical tool for the investigation of the inhibitory mechanism of spermine in human subjects