Macromodel-based simulation and measurement of the dynamic pull-in of viscously damped RF-MEMS switches

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Experimental investigation on the exploitation of an active mechanism to restore the operability of malfunctioning RF-MEMS switches

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Seeing Behind Objects for 3D Multi-Object Tracking in RGB-D Sequences

Multi-object tracking from RGB-D video sequences is a challenging problem due to the combination of changing viewpoints, motion, and occlusions over time. We observe that having the complete geometry of objects aids in their tracking, and thus propose to jointly infer the complete geometry of objects as well as track them, for rigidly moving objects over time. Our key insight is that inferring the complete geometry of the objects significantly helps in tracking. By hallucinating unseen regions of objects, we can obtain additional correspondences between the same instance, thus providing robust tracking even under strong change of appearance. From a sequence of RGB-D frames, we detect objects in each frame and learn to predict their complete object geometry as well as a dense correspondence mapping into a canonical space. This allows us to derive 6DoF poses for the objects in each frame, along with their correspondence between frames, providing robust object tracking across the RGB-D sequence. Experiments on both synthetic and real-world RGB-D data demonstrate that we achieve state-of-the-art performance on dynamic object tracking. Furthermore, we show that our object completion significantly helps tracking, providing an improvement of 6.5% in mean MOTA

TRAIL-expressing T cells induce apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells in the atherosclerotic plaque

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are precipitated by a rupture of the atherosclerotic plaque, often at the site of T cell and macrophage infiltration. Here, we show that plaque-infiltrating CD4 T cells effectively kill vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). VSMCs sensitive to T cell–mediated killing express the death receptor DR5 (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand [TRAIL] receptor 2), and anti-TRAIL and anti-DR5 antibodies block T cell–mediated apoptosis. CD4 T cells that express TRAIL upon stimulation are expanded in patients with ACS and more effectively induce VSMC apoptosis. Adoptive transfer of plaque-derived CD4 T cells into immunodeficient mice that are engrafted with human atherosclerotic plaque results in apoptosis of VSMCs, which was prevented by coadministration of anti-TRAIL antibody. These data identify that the death pathway is triggered by TRAIL-producing CD4 T cells as a direct mechanism of VSMC apoptosis, a process which may lead to plaque destabilization

Application of the two-step Lax and Wendroff FCT and the CE-SE method to flow transport in wall-flow monoliths

[EN] Gas dynamic codes are computational tools applied to the analysis of air management in internal combustion engines. The governing equations in one-dimensional elements are approached assuming compressible unsteady non-homentropic flow and are commonly solved applying finite difference numerical methods. These techniques can also be applied to the calculation of flow transport in complex systems such as wallflow monoliths. These elements are characterized by alternatively plugged channels with porous walls. It filters the particulates when the flowgoes through thewall from the inlet to the outlet channels. Therefore, this process couples the solution of every pair of inlet and outlet channels. In this study, the adaptation of the two-step Lax and Wendroff method and the space-time Conservation Element and Solution Element method is performed to be applied in the solution of flow transport in wall-flow monolith channels. The influence on the prediction ability is analysed by a shock-tube test and experimental data obtained under impulsive flow conditions.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion through grant number DPI2010-20891-C02-02.Serrano, JR.; Arnau Martínez, FJ.; Piqueras, P.; García Afonso, Ó. (2014). Application of the two-step Lax and Wendroff FCT and the CE-SE method to flow transport in wall-flow monoliths. International Journal of Computer Mathematics. 91(1):71-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207160.2013.783206S718491

Expression of Drug Targets in Patients Treated with Sorafenib, Carboplatin and Paclitaxel

Introduction: Sorafenib, a multitarget kinase inhibitor, targets members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and VEGFR kinases. Here we assessed the association between expression of sorafenib targets and biomarkers of taxane sensitivity and response to therapy in pre-treatment tumors from patients enrolled in ECOG 2603, a phase III comparing sorafenib, carboplatin and paclitaxel (SCP) to carboplatin, paclitaxel and placebo (CP). Methods: Using a method of automated quantitative analysis (AQUA) of in situ protein expression, we quantified expression of VEGF-R2, VEGF-R1, VEGF-R3, FGF-R1, PDGF-Rβ, c-Kit, B-Raf, C-Raf, MEK1, ERK1/2, STMN1, MAP2, EB1 and Bcl-2 in pretreatment specimens from 263 patients. Results: An association was found between high FGF-R1 and VEGF-R1 and increased progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in our combined cohort (SCP and CP arms). Expression of FGF-R1 and VEGF-R1 was higher in patients who responded to therapy ((CR+PR) vs. (SD+PD+ un-evaluable)). Conclusions: In light of the absence of treatment effect associated with sorafenib, the association found between FGF-R1 and VEGF-R1 expression and OS, PFS and response might reflect a predictive biomarker signature for carboplatin/paclitaxel-based therapy. Seeing that carboplatin and pacitaxel are now widely used for this disease, corroboration in another cohort might enable us to improve the therapeutic ratio of this regimen. © 2013 Jilaveanu et al