DETERMINATION OF THE OPTIMAL NUMBER OF RIGID-BODY SEGMENTS TO REPRESENT THE TRUNK USING AKAIKE’S INFORMATION CRITERION

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal number of rigid body segments to sufficiently represent the trunk movements, using Akaike’s information criterion. The trunk in static and dynamic conditions was modelled with one, two, three, or six linked rigid-body representations. The difference in the three-dimensional position between the actual and modelled data was calculated to quantify how well these models describe the actual trunk kinematics. The Akaike’s information criterion was calculated using the difference in position data to evaluate the goodness-of-fit for each model. Our findings suggest that two-linked rigid-body representation may be good enough when analysing trunk movements except when the movement includes a large axial rotation, for which the three-linked rigid-bodies would be better. These results would be useful in determining the optimal number of rigid body representation to sufficiently represent the trunk movements

FORWARD AND FALSE STEP TECHNIQUES USED FOR SPRINT START IN A SIDEWAYS DIRECTION: WHICH IS SUPERIOR?

The purpose of this study was to determine which technique is superior to in a standing sprint start in a sideways direction: the false step or forward step technique. Nine males performed 5 m sprints in a rightward direction starting with these two techniques. They took a first step in their right side with their right foot in the forward step trials, whereas they took a first step in their left side with their left foot in the false step trials. No significant differences were found between the two trial conditions in the sprint times for 1 m, 2 m, 3 m and 4 m. These results indicate that the start techniques made no difference in the performance in the sideways direction, although the superiority of the false step technique for the forward sprint start was reported previously. This finding suggests that the superiority of the sprint start techniques is dependent on the sprint direction

Triplet Chemotherapy with Cisplatin, Docetaxel, and Irinotecan for Patients with Recurrent or Refractory Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

We examined the feasibility of triplet chemotherapy using cisplatin, docetaxel, and irinotecan for patients with recurrent or refractory non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), retrospectively. Twenty-five patients (21 men and 4 women) with NSCLC and good performance status who were &#60;70 years old were analyzed. The median age was 58 years. Most patients had performance status 1 (16/25), stage IV disease (18/25) and adenocarcinoma-histology (16/25). Cisplatin and docetaxel were given on day 1 and irinotecan on day 2;the cycle was repeated every 3 weeks. The objective response rate was 39.1% (95% confidence interval:18.7-59.5%). The median survival time and actual 2-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 14.3 months, 32%, 20%, and 8%, respectively. Of note, only 6 patients were treated with gefitinib at the recurrence after triplet chemotherapy;of these, 4 (67%) achieved a partial response, which might result in favorable survival. Grade 3/4 toxicities consisted of neutropenia (100%), neutropenic fever (56%), nausea/vomiting (40%), and diarrhea (16%);no cases of treatment-related death occurred. Triplet chemotherapy showed impressive survival data in our clinical trial, but proved too toxic for use in treating patients with NSCLC in the clinical practice.</p

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TRACK START POSITiONS ON HORIZONTAL TAKE-OFF VELOCITY OF WHOLE-SODY CENTER OF MASS IN SWIMMING: A SlMUALTION STUDY

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different track start positions on horizontal take-off velocity of the whole-body center of mass (COM) in swimming. The whole body was modeled as linked rigid-body segments to simulate the track start performance, and a simulation was performce with two different track start positions, with the COM positioned at the rear and low level (RL), and at the front and high level (FH). The results demonstrated that the horizontal take-off velocity was faster for the RL than the FH. The hip joint moments were larger for the RL than the FH on both front and rear legs. Therefore, the COM positioned at the rear and lower level for the track start would contribute to a greater hip joint moment generation, producing a greater horizontal velocity of the COM at take-off

Hepatocyte growth factor prevents lupus nephritis in a murine lupus model of chronic graft-versus-host disease

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) induced in (C57BL/6 × DBA/2) F1 (BDF1) mice by the injection of DBA/2 mouse spleen cells represents histopathological changes associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and Sjogren's syndrome (SS), as indicated by glomerulonephritis, lymphocyte infiltration into the periportal area of the liver and salivary glands. We determined the therapeutic effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene transfection on lupus using this chronic GVHD model. Chronic GVHD mice were injected in the gluteal muscle with either HVJ liposomes containing 8 μg of the human HGF expression vector (HGF-HVJ liposomes) or mock vector (untreated control). Gene transfer was repeated at 2-week intervals during 12 weeks. HGF gene transfection effectively prevented the proteinuria and histopathological changes associated with glomerulonephritis. While liver and salivary gland sections from untreated GVHD mice showed prominent PBC- and SS-like changes, HGF gene transfection reduced these histopathological changes. HGF gene transfection greatly reduced the number of splenic B cells, host B cell major histocompatibility complex class II expression, and serum levels of IgG and anti-DNA antibodies. IL-4 mRNA expression in the spleen, liver, and kidneys was significantly decreased by HGF gene transfection. CD28 expression on DBA/2 CD4+ T cells was decreased by the addition of recombinant HGF in vitro. Furthermore, IL-4 production by DBA/2 CD4+ T cells stimulated by irradiated BDF1 dendritic cells was significantly inhibited by the addition of recombinant HGF in vitro. These results suggest that HGF gene transfection inhibited T helper 2 immune responses and reduced lupus nephritis, autoimmune sialoadenitis, and cholangitis in chronic GVHD mice. HGF may represent a novel strategy for the treatment of SLE, SS and PBC

Non-local spin correlation as a signature of Ising anyons trapped in vacancies of the Kitaev spin liquid

In the Kitaev chiral spin liquid, Ising anyons are realized as Majorana zero modes bound in $Z_2$ fluxes, which, however, are thermal excitations with finite decay rates. On the other hand, a lattice vacancy traps a $Z_2$ flux even in the ground state, resulting in the stable realization of a Majorana zero mode in the $Z_2$ flux. We demonstrate that spin-spin correlation functions between two vacancy sites exhibit long-range correlation arising from the fractionalized character of Majorana zero modes, in spite of the strong decay of bulk spin correlations. Remarkably, this non-local spin correlation does not decrease as the distance between two vacancy sites increases, signaling teleportation of Majorana zero modes. Furthermore, we clarify that the non-local correlation can be detected electrically via the measurement of non-local conductance between two vacancy sites, which is also utilized for the readout of Majorana qubits. These findings pave the way to the measurement-based quantum computation with Ising anyons trapped in vacancies of the Kitaev spin liquid.Comment: 6 pages + 4 figures, and a Supplemental Materia

Parenteral Nutrition Administration Leads to Specific Alterations in the Expression of Adipocytokines and Peroxisome Proliferator‐Activated Receptors in a Rat Model

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141876/1/jpen0329-sup-0001.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141876/2/jpen0329.pd

A Case of Ovarian Actinomycosis

Background: Pelvic actinomycosis is uncommon and often presents as a complication of an intrauterine device (IUD). A diagnosis of actinomycosis can be made from the finding of sulfur granules within inflammatory exudate on histologic examination after surgery. However, it may be possible to diagnose actinomycosis before surgery by finding Actinomyces-like organisms on Papanicolaou smears. Case: A 41-year-old woman had been diagnosed as having a pelvic abscess, and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. She had been an IUD user for 6 years. Actinomyces-like organisms were detected in her previous Papanicolaou cervical smears. If the patient had been treated when the Actinomyces-like organisms were detected by Papanicolaou smears, the serious ovarian actinomycosis might have been avoided. Conclusion: We suggest that routine cervical examinations are important for women who are IUD users