Directed diffraction without negative refraction

Using the FDTD method, we investigate the electromagnetic propagation in two-dimensional photonic crystals, formed by parallel air cylinders in a dielectric medium. The corresponding frequency band structure is computed using the standard plane-wave expansion method. It is shown that within partial bandgaps, waves tend to bend away from the forbidden directions. This phenomenon perhaps need not be explained in terms of negative refraction or `superlensing' behavior, contrast to what has been conjectured.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Learning Discriminative Shrinkage Deep Networks for Image Deconvolution

Most existing methods usually formulate the non-blind deconvolution problem into a maximum-a-posteriori framework and address it by manually designing kinds of regularization terms and data terms of the latent clear images. However, explicitly designing these two terms is quite challenging and usually leads to complex optimization problems which are difficult to solve. In this paper, we propose an effective non-blind deconvolution approach by learning discriminative shrinkage functions to implicitly model these terms. In contrast to most existing methods that use deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) or radial basis functions to simply learn the regularization term, we formulate both the data term and regularization term and split the deconvolution model into data-related and regularization-related sub-problems according to the alternating direction method of multipliers. We explore the properties of the Maxout function and develop a deep CNN model with a Maxout layer to learn discriminative shrinkage functions to directly approximate the solutions of these two sub-problems. Moreover, given the fast-Fourier-transform-based image restoration usually leads to ringing artifacts while conjugate-gradient-based approach is time-consuming, we develop the Conjugate Gradient Network to restore the latent clear images effectively and efficiently. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs favorably against the state-of-the-art ones in terms of efficiency and accuracy

Safety and Efficacy of Tien-Hsien Liquid Practical in Patients with Refractory Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group, Phase IIa Trial

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Tien-Hsien Liquid Practical (THL-P), a Chinese herbal mixture, in patients with refractory metastatic breast cancer, we performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase IIa pilot trial. Patients were randomly assigned to either receive THL-P or matching placebo and followed up every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was changes in the global health status/quality of life (GHS/QOL) scale. The secondary endpoints were changes in functional and symptom scales, immunomodulating effects, and adverse events. Sixty-three patients were enrolled between June 2009 and June 2011. The intent-to-treat population included 28 patients in the THL-P group and 11 patients in the placebo group. Compared to the placebo group, the THL-P group had significant improvement from baseline to last visit in GHS/QOL (41.7 versus −33.3; P < 0.05), CD3, CD4/CD8, CD19, CD16+56 positive cells (P < 0.05), and higher levels of physical, role, emotional, and cognitive functioning, as well as decreased fatigue and systemic side effects. Treatment-related adverse events were mild constipation and localized itching, and no serious adverse events were reported. THL-P appears to be a safe alternative adjuvant treatment for patients with refractory metastatic breast cancer, as it effectively improves QOL and palliates cancer-related symptoms

Lipid-related residual risk and renal function for occurrence and prognosis among patients with first-event acute coronary syndrome and normal LDL cholesterol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We investigated relationship of low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high levels of triglycerides, and renal function for the odds, prognosis and survival following acute coronary events among patients with a first event and normal low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A case-control study based on 557 patients and 1086 matched control subjects was conducted. Case patients were followed up for survival with a median of 1.9 years. Participants in the higher quintiles of HDL-C had lower odds to develop acute coronary events (the adjusted odds ratios were 0.24 for the second, 0.24 for the third, 0.10 for the fourth and 0.05 for the fifth quintile). Patients with normal glomerular filtration rate were at a lower risk for all-cause death. However, a reverse association between triglycerides and death risk was found: patients with higher triglycerides were at a lower risk for all-cause death (adjusted relative risk, 0.38 for triglycerides ranging from 82 to 132.9 mg/dL, and 0.14 for triglycerides > = 133 mg/dL).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Low HDL-C was significantly associated with acute coronary events, and triglyceride levels as well as renal function were inversely related to all-cause deaths after the coronary event.</p

THE EFFECT OF INSULIN AND CARBOHYDRATE SUPPLEMENTATION ON GLYCOGEN REPLENISHMENT AMONG DIFFERENT HINDLIMB MUSCLES IN RATS FOLLOWING PROLONGED SWIMMING

In the present study we investigated the interactive effects of insulin and carbohydrate on glycogen replenishment in different rat hindlimb muscles. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to 5 groups, including 1) sedentary control with carbohydrate supplement (2 g glucose · kg body wt-1), 2) sedentary rats with 16 hours recovery, carbohydrate and insulin (0.5 U · kg body wt-1), 3) swimming without recovery, 4) swimming with 16 hours recovery and carbohydrate supplement, and 5) swimming with 16 hours recovery, carbohydrate and insulin. The swimming protocol consisted of two 3 h swimming sections, which were separated by a 45 min rest. The insulin and carbohydrate were administered to the rats immediately after exercise. At the end of the experiment, the soleus (S), plantaris (P), quadriceps (Q) and gastrocnemius (G) were surgically excised to evaluate glycogen utilization and replenishment. We observed that glycogen utilization was significantly lower in G and Q than S and P during swimming (p <0.05), and S showed the greatest capacity of glycogen resynthesis after post-exercise recovery (p <0.05). In the sedentary state, the glycogen synthesis did not differ among hindlimb muscles during insulin and carbohydrate treatments. Interestingly, with insulin and carbohydrate, the glycogen resynthesis in S and P were significantly greater than in Q and G following post-exercise recovery (p <0.05). We therefore concluded that the soleus and plantaris are the primary working muscles during swimming, and the greatest glycogen replenishment capacity of the soleus during post-exercise recovery is likely due to its highest insulin sensitivity

Case report: Heterogenous SMARCA4-deficient thoracic non-small cell lung carcinoma with various responses to nivolumab

SMARCA4-deficient non-small cell carcinoma is an aggressive neoplasm with poor outcome. Several studies have highlighted its immunochemistry, pathophysiology, and underlying mechanisms, but studies of its definite treatment are few. Here, we report on a 69-year-old male with heterogenous pathological presentations of SMARCA4-deficient non-small cell carcinoma. He initially presented with neck lymphadenopathies. Immunohistochemistry staining and genomic profiling confirmed the diagnosis of SMARCA4-deficient non-small cell carcinoma. The patient responded well to immune checkpoint inhibitors with nivolumab. However, new lesions with various pathological presentations and various responses to nivolumab appeared during the treatment course. The patient survived more than 3 years from the initial diagnosis. This case shows the efficacy of nivolumab to treat SMARCA4-deficient non-small cell lung carcinoma

Efficacy of the visual cognitive assessment test for mild cognitive impairment/mild dementia diagnosis: a meta-analysis

BackgroundMild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage between normal ageing and dementia. The early identification of MCI is important for timely intervention. The visual cognitive assessment test (VCAT) is a brief language-neutral screening tool for detecting MCI/mild dementia. This meta-analysis evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of the VCAT for MCI/mild dementia.MethodsMedline, Embase, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library were searched from their inception until August 2023 to identify studies using VCAT to diagnose MCI/mild dementia. The primary outcome was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the VCAT for detecting MCI/mild dementia through area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AU-ROC) analysis. The secondary outcome was to explore the correlation between VCAT scores and MCI/mild dementia presence by comparing scores among patients with and without MCI/mild dementia. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated.ResultsFive studies with 1,446 older adults (mean age 64–68.3 years) were included. The percentage of participants with MCI/mild dementia versus controls ranged from 16.5% to 87% across studies. All studies were conducted in Asian populations, mostly Chinese, in Singapore and Malaysia. The pooled sensitivity was 80% [95% confidence interval (CI) 68%–88%] and the specificity was 75% (95% CI 68%–80%). The AU-ROCC was 0.77 (95% CI 0.73–0.81). Patients with MCI/mild dementia had lower VCAT scores than the controls (mean difference −6.85 points, p &lt; 0.00001).ConclusionVCAT demonstrated acceptable diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing MCI/mild dementia in cognitively normal older adults. As a language-neutral and culturally unbiased tool, the VCAT shows promise in detecting MCI/mild dementia. Further studies in non-Asian populations are required.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier: CRD42023453453

The Liquid Sensor Using Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator with C-Axis Tilted AlN Films

Dual-mode thin film bulk acoustic resonator (TFBAR) devices are fabricated with c-axis tilted AlN films. To fabricate dual-mode TFBAR devices, the off-axis RF magnetron sputtering method for the growth of tilted piezoelectric AlN thin films is adopted. In this report, the AlN thin films are deposited with tilting angles of 15° and 23°. The frequency response of the TFBAR device with 23° tilted AlN thin film is measured to reveal its ability to provide dual-mode resonance. The sensitivities of the longitudinal and shear modes to mass loading are calculated to be 2295 Hz cm2/ng and 1363 Hz cm2/ng with the mechanical quality factors of 480 and 287, respectively. The sensitivities of the longitudinal and shear modes are calculated to be 0 and 15 Hz cm2/μg for liquid loading

Brief report: A pilot study of the use of a virtual reality headset in autism populations

The application of virtual reality technologies (VRTs) for users with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been studied for decades. However, a gap remains in our understanding surrounding VRT head-mounted displays (HMDs). As newly designed HMDs have become commercially available (in this study the Oculus Rift™) the need to investigate newer devices is immediate. This study explored willingness, acceptance, sense of presence and immersion of ASD participants. Results revealed that all 29 participants (mean age=32; 33% with IQ< 70) were willing to wear the HMD. The majority of the participants reported an enjoyable experience, high levels of ‘presence’, and were likely to use HMDs again. IQ was found to be independent of the willingness to use HMDs and related VRT immersion experience