1,471 research outputs found
In vivo detection of cortical optical changes associated with seizure activity with optical coherence tomography.
The most common technology for seizure detection is with electroencephalography (EEG), which has low spatial resolution and minimal depth discrimination. Optical techniques using near-infrared (NIR) light have been used to improve upon EEG technology and previous research has suggested that optical changes, specifically changes in near-infrared optical scattering, may precede EEG seizure onset in in vivo models. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high resolution, minimally invasive imaging technique, which can produce depth resolved cross-sectional images. In this study, OCT was used to detect changes in optical properties of cortical tissue in vivo in mice before and during the induction of generalized seizure activity. We demonstrated that a significant decrease (P < 0.001) in backscattered intensity during seizure progression can be detected before the onset of observable manifestations of generalized (stage-5) seizures. These results indicate the feasibility of minimally-invasive optical detection of seizures with OCT
Melanoma of the middle ear: initial presentation, Fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging and follow up
Abstract Background: We present a rare case of primary mucosal melanoma of the middle ear imaged with 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT). Method: Clinical, radiological, intra-operative and histological findings are discussed. Results: An 88-year-old woman presented with intermittent otorrhoea of the left ear for several months. Otoscopy revealed a livid protrusion of the tympanic membrane. Melanoma was not suspected initially, but was established on transmembranous biopsy. Pre-operative 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography revealed a mass lesion in the left tympanic cavity with high fluoro-deoxyglucose uptake, as well as an ipsilateral intraparotid lymph node metastasis. The patient underwent surgical treatment. The diagnosis of melanoma was confirmed histologically. Conclusion: In this rare case, clinical, radiological and surgical findings led to the diagnosis of a primary mucosal melanoma of the middle ea
Twistfield Perturbations of Vertex Operators in the Z_2-Orbifold Model
We apply Kadanoff's theory of marginal deformations of conformal field
theories to twistfield deformations of Z_2 orbifold models in K3 moduli space.
These deformations lead away from the Z_2 orbifold sub-moduli-space and hence
help to explore conformal field theories which have not yet been understood. In
particular, we calculate the deformation of the conformal dimensions of vertex
operators for p^2<1 in second order perturbation theory.Comment: Latex2e, 19 pages, 1 figur
SLE local martingales in logarithmic representations
A space of local martingales of SLE type growth processes forms a
representation of Virasoro algebra, but apart from a few simplest cases not
much is known about this representation. The purpose of this article is to
exhibit examples of representations where L_0 is not diagonalizable - a
phenomenon characteristic of logarithmic conformal field theory. Furthermore,
we observe that the local martingales bear a close relation with the fusion
product of the boundary changing fields.
Our examples reproduce first of all many familiar logarithmic representations
at certain rational values of the central charge. In particular we discuss the
case of SLE(kappa=6) describing the exploration path in critical percolation,
and its relation with the question of operator content of the appropriate
conformal field theory of zero central charge. In this case one encounters
logarithms in a probabilistically transparent way, through conditioning on a
crossing event. But we also observe that some quite natural SLE variants
exhibit logarithmic behavior at all values of kappa, thus at all central
charges and not only at specific rational values.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures. v3: completely rewritten, new title, new result
Development and operation of a pixel segmented liquid-filled linear array for radiotherapy quality assurance
A liquid isooctane (CH) filled ionization linear array for
radiotherapy quality assurance has been designed, built and tested. The
detector consists of 128 pixels, each of them with an area of 1.7 mm
1.7 mm and a gap of 0.5 mm. The small pixel size makes the detector ideal for
high gradient beam profiles like those present in Intensity Modulated Radiation
Therapy (IMRT) and radiosurgery. As read-out electronics we use the X-Ray Data
Acquisition System (XDAS) with the Xchip developed by the CCLRC.
Studies concerning the collection efficiency dependence on the polarization
voltage and on the dose rate have been made in order to optimize the device
operation.
In the first tests we have studied dose rate and energy dependences, and
signal reproducibility. Dose rate dependence was found lower than 2.5 % up to 5
Gy min, and energy dependence lower than 2.1 % up to 20 cm depth in
solid water. Output factors and penumbras for several rectangular fields have
been measured with the linear array and were compared with the results obtained
with a 0.125 cm air ionization chamber and radiographic film,
respectively. Finally, we have acquired profiles for an IMRT field and for a
virtual wedge. These profiles have also been compared with radiographic film
measurements. All the comparisons show a good correspondence. Signal
reproducibility was within a 2% during the test period (around three months).
The device has proved its capability to verify on-line therapy beams with
good spatial resolution and signal to noise ratio.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures Submitted to Phys. Med. Bio
The lysine methyltransferase SMYD3 interacts with hepatitis C virus NS5A and is a negative regulator of viral particle production
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a considerable global health and economic burden. The HCV nonstructural protein (NS) 5A is essential for the viral life cycle. The ability of NS5A to interact with different host and viral proteins allow it to manipulate cellular pathways and regulate viral processes, including RNA replication and virus particle assembly. As part of a proteomic screen, we identified several NS5A-binding proteins, including the lysine methyltransferase SET and MYND domain containing protein 3 (SMYD3). We confirmed the interaction in the context of viral replication by co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization studies. Mutational analyses revealed that the MYND-domain of SMYD3 and domain III of NS5A are required for the interaction. Overexpression of SMYD3 resulted in decreased intracellular and extracellular virus titers, whilst viral RNA replication remained unchanged, suggesting that SMYD3 negatively affects HCV particle production in a NS5A-dependent manner. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc
Pareto Optimization of a Laser Wakefield Accelerator
Optimization of accelerator performance parameters is limited by numerous
trade-offs and finding the appropriate balance between optimization goals for
an unknown system is challenging to achieve. Here we show that multi-objective
Bayesian optimization can map the solution space of a laser wakefield
accelerator in a very sample-efficient way. Using a Gaussian mixture model, we
isolate contributions related to an electron bunch at a certain energy and we
observe that there exists a wide range of Pareto-optimal solutions that trade
beam energy versus charge at similar laser-to-beam efficiency. However, many
applications such as light sources require particle beams at a certain target
energy. Once such a constraint is introduced we observe a direct trade-off
between energy spread and accelerator efficiency. We furthermore demonstrate
how specific solutions can be exploited using \emph{a posteriori} scalarization
of the objectives, thereby efficiently splitting the exploration and
exploitation phases
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