66 research outputs found
Solitons in Supersymmety Breaking Meta-Stable Vacua
In recently found supersymmetry-breaking meta-stable vacua of the
supersymmetric QCD, we examine possible exsitence of solitons. Homotopy groups
of the moduli space of the meta-stable vacua show that there is no nontrivial
soliton for SU(N_c) gauge group. When U(1)_B symmetry present in the theory is
gauged, we find non-BPS solitonic (vortex) strings whose existence and
properties are predicted from brane configurations. We obtain explicit
classical solutions which reproduce the predicitions. For SO(N_c) gauge group,
we find there are solitonic strings for N = N_f-N_c+4 = 2, and Z_2 strings for
the other N. The strings are meta-stable as they live in the meta-stable vacua.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, Comments on stability of non-BPS vortices are
added, Comments on sigma model solitons are added, An appendix is adde
QCD String as Vortex String in Seiberg-Dual Theory
We construct a classical vortex string solution in a Seiberg-dual theory of
N=1 supersymmetric SO(N_c) QCD which flows to a confining phase. We claim that
this vortex string is a QCD string, as previouly argued by M.Strassler. In
SO(N_c) QCD, it is known that stable QCD strings exist even in the presence of
dynamical quarks. We show that our vortex strings are stable in the
Seiberg-dual theory.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
CIRCULATING PENTRAXIN 3 LEVELS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH CORONARY PLAQUE COMPOSITIONS ASSESSED BY IMAP-INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND
Learning suction graspability considering grasp quality and robot reachability for bin-picking
Deep learning has been widely used for inferring robust grasps. Although
human-labeled RGB-D datasets were initially used to learn grasp configurations,
preparation of this kind of large dataset is expensive. To address this
problem, images were generated by a physical simulator, and a physically
inspired model (e.g., a contact model between a suction vacuum cup and object)
was used as a grasp quality evaluation metric to annotate the synthesized
images. However, this kind of contact model is complicated and requires
parameter identification by experiments to ensure real world performance. In
addition, previous studies have not considered manipulator reachability such as
when a grasp configuration with high grasp quality is unable to reach the
target due to collisions or the physical limitations of the robot. In this
study, we propose an intuitive geometric analytic-based grasp quality
evaluation metric. We further incorporate a reachability evaluation metric. We
annotate the pixel-wise grasp quality and reachability by the proposed
evaluation metric on synthesized images in a simulator to train an
auto-encoder--decoder called suction graspability U-Net++ (SG-U-Net++).
Experiment results show that our intuitive grasp quality evaluation metric is
competitive with a physically-inspired metric. Learning the reachability helps
to reduce motion planning computation time by removing obviously unreachable
candidates. The system achieves an overall picking speed of 560 PPH (pieces per
hour).Comment: 18 pages, 2 tables, 7 figure
Use of Balloon Enteroscopy in Preoperative Diagnosis of Neurofibromatosis-Associated Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours of the Small Bowel: A Case Report
Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is one of the most common inheritable disorders and is associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). However, the predominant location of these lesions in the small bowel makes them difficult to diagnose. We report the successful use of balloon enteroscopy in conjunction with conventional methods for clinical diagnosis of jejunal GISTs in a 70-year-old man with NF1 who presented with melaena. The importance of screening NF1 patients for GISTs and the complementary role of balloon enteroscopy with capsule endoscopy in such diagnoses is discussed
Relationships between Rap1b, Affinity Modulation of Integrin α IIb β 3 , and the Actin Cytoskeleton
The affinity of integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) for fibrinogen is controlled by inside-out signals that are triggered by agonists like thrombin. Agonist treatment of platelets also activates Rap1b, a small GTPase known to promote integrin-dependent adhesion of other cells. Therefore, we investigated the role of Rap1b in alpha(IIb)beta(3) function by viral transduction of GFP-Rap1 chimeras into murine megakaryocytes, which exhibit inside-out signaling similar to platelets. Expression of constitutively active GFP-Rap1b (V12) had no effect on unstimulated megakaryocytes, but it greatly augmented fibrinogen binding to alpha(IIb)beta(3) induced by a PAR4 thrombin receptor agonist (p < 0.01). The Rap1b effect was cell-autonomous and was prevented by pre-treating cells with cytochalasin D or latrunculin A to inhibit actin polymerization. Rap1b-dependent fibrinogen binding to megakaryocytes was blocked by POW-2, a novel monovalent antibody Fab fragment specific for high affinity murine alpha(IIb)beta(3). In contrast to GFP-Rap1b (V12), expression of GFP-Rap1GAP, which deactivates endogenous Rap1, inhibited agonist-induced fibrinogen binding (p < 0.01), as did dominant-negative GFP-Rap1b (N17) (p < 0.05). None of these treatments affected surface expression of alpha(IIb)beta(3). These studies establish that Rap1b can augment agonist-induced ligand binding to alpha(IIb)beta(3) through effects on integrin affinity, possibly by modulating alpha(IIb)beta(3) interactions with the actin cytoskeleton
Phase II clinical trial of sorafenib plus interferon-alpha treatment for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma in Japan
Comparison of the current study with other sorafenib-interferon combination studies and with single-agent sorafenib studies [25]. (XLSX 12Â kb
Determination of paroxetine in serum treated with simple pretreatment by pre-column high-performance liquid chromatography using 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride as a fluorescent labeling reagent.
The therapeutic drug monitoring of paroxetine could be used to optimize the pharmacological treatment of depressed patients. A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography procedure was developed for the determination of paroxetine in serum. After simple pretreatment of serum (50 μL) with acetonitrile and o-phthalaldehyde, paroxetine was derivatized with 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride at 70°C for 20 min in borate buffer (0.1 mol/L, pH 8.0) to produce a fluorescent product. The derivative was separated on a reversed-phase column at 40°C for stepwise elution with (A) acetic acid (10 mmol/L) and (B) acetonitrile. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. The fluorescence intensity was monitored at excitation and emission wavelengths of 320 and 400 nm, respectively. The within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviations were 3.0-3.4 and 2.7-8.3%, respectively. The detection limit of paroxetine was 8.3 fmol at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. As the proposed method that only requires a small quantity of serum (50 μL) is simple, sensitive and reproducible, it would be useful for clinical and biochemical research as well as drug monitoring.The therapeutic drug monitoring of paroxetine could be used to optimize the pharmacological treatment of depressed patients. A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography procedure was developed for the determination of paroxetine in serum. After simple pretreatment of serum (50 μL) with acetonitrile and o-phthalaldehyde, paroxetine was derivatized with 4-(5,6-dimethoxy-2-phthalimidinyl)-2-methoxyphenylsulfonyl chloride at 70°C for 20 min in borate buffer (0.1 mol/L, pH 8.0) to produce a fluorescent product. The derivative was separated on a reversed-phase column at 40°C for stepwise elution with (A) acetic acid (10 mmol/L) and (B) acetonitrile. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. The fluorescence intensity was monitored at excitation and emission wavelengths of 320 and 400 nm, respectively. The within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviations were 3.0-3.4 and 2.7-8.3%, respectively. The detection limit of paroxetine was 8.3 fmol at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. As the proposed method that only requires a small quantity of serum (50 μL) is simple, sensitive and reproducible, it would be useful for clinical and biochemical research as well as drug monitoring
Longitudinal strain of right ventricular free wall by 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography is useful for detecting pulmonary hypertension
Aims Echocardiography is widely used for screening pulmonary hypertension (PH). More recently developed two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) can assess regional deformation of the myocardium and is useful for detecting left ventricular dysfunction. However, its usefulness to assess right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the ability of peak systolic strain (PSS) and post-systolic strain index (PSI) at the RV free wall determined by 2D-STE to detect PH. Main methods Thirty-six images (27 images from PH patients, nine from patients with connective tissue disease without PH) obtained by 2D-STE were analysed. We investigated the relationship between RV hemodynamics measured by right heart catheterization and PSS, PSI and other echocardiographic parameters reflecting RV overload including RV end-diastolic diameter (RVDd) and tricuspid valve regurgitant pressure gradient (TRPG). Key findings PSS, PSI, RVDd and TRPG were all correlated with mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). Furthermore, when PSS and MPAP were measured twice, the change in PSS was correlated with the change in MPAP (r = 0.633, p = 0.037). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified PSS as the only independent factor associated with MPAP ? 35 mm Hg [odds ratio (OR), 1.616; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.017-2.567; p = 0.042] and PVR ? 400 dyn・s・cm- 5(OR, 1.804; 95% CI 1.131-2.877; p = 0.013). Furthermore, the optimal PSS cut-off value to detect an elevated MPAP and PVR was - 20.75%, based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Significance PSS of the RV free wall might serve as a useful non-invasive indicator of PH
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