Cutting the chorda tympani: not just a matter of taste

Abstract Introduction: Chorda tympani injury as a complication of middle-ear surgery has been extensively studied with regard to its effects upon taste. However, the chorda tympani also carries parasympathetic fibres to the salivary glands of the oral cavity. To date, little has been reported about the effect of chorda tympani section upon salivary function. Setting: Tertiary care centre. Material and methods: We report a case series of three patients with bilateral chorda tympani lesions. Chorda tympani function was assessed using ‘taste strips' and unstimulated sialometry. A careful history of oral symptoms was taken. Results: All patients showed transient or permanent bilateral ageusia of the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, and a decreased resting salivary flow rate. In addition, all patients suffered from transient or persistent, distressing xerostomia. Conclusion: Taste disorders may occur after middle-ear surgery but they are mostly transient, even when the chorda tympani nerves are sectioned bilaterally. In contrast, bilateral chorda tympani lesions may lead to severe, persistent and distressing xerostomia. Based on this neglected aspect of chorda tympani function, we emphasise the importance of preserving the chorda tympani whenever possibl

Quantitative uniqueness for elliptic equations with singular lower order terms

We use a Carleman type inequality of Koch and Tataru to obtain quantitative estimates of unique continuation for solutions of second order elliptic equations with singular lower order terms. First we prove a three sphere inequality and then describe two methods of propagation of smallness from sets of positive measure.Comment: 23 pages, v2 small changes are done and some mistakes are correcte

TGRS Observation of the Galactic Center Annihilation Line

The TGRS (Transient Gamma-Ray Spectrometer) experiment is a high-resolution germanium detector launched on the WIND satellite on Nov. 1, 1994. Although primarily intended to study gamma-ray bursts and solar flares, TGRS also has the capability of studying slower transients (e.g. x-ray novae) and certain steady sources. We present here results on the narrow 511 keV annihilation line from the general direction of the Galactic Center accumulated over the period Jan. 1995 through Oct. 1995. These results were obtained from the TGRS occultation mode, in which a lead absorber occults the Galactic Center region for 1/4 of each spacecraft rotation, thus chopping the 511 keV signal. The occulted region is a band in the sky of width 16 degrees that passes through the Galactic Center. We detect the narrow annihilation line from the galactic center with flux = $(1.64\pm0.09)\times10^{-3} {photons} {cm}^{-2} {s}^{-1}$. The data are consistent with a single point source at the galactic center, but a distributed source of extent up to ~30 degrees cannot be ruled out. No evidence for temporal variability on time scales longer than 1 month was found.Comment: 11 pages + 5 Postscript figure

SentiBench - a benchmark comparison of state-of-the-practice sentiment analysis methods

In the last few years thousands of scientific papers have investigated sentiment analysis, several startups that measure opinions on real data have emerged and a number of innovative products related to this theme have been developed. There are multiple methods for measuring sentiments, including lexical-based and supervised machine learning methods. Despite the vast interest on the theme and wide popularity of some methods, it is unclear which one is better for identifying the polarity (i.e., positive or negative) of a message. Accordingly, there is a strong need to conduct a thorough apple-to-apple comparison of sentiment analysis methods, \textit{as they are used in practice}, across multiple datasets originated from different data sources. Such a comparison is key for understanding the potential limitations, advantages, and disadvantages of popular methods. This article aims at filling this gap by presenting a benchmark comparison of twenty-four popular sentiment analysis methods (which we call the state-of-the-practice methods). Our evaluation is based on a benchmark of eighteen labeled datasets, covering messages posted on social networks, movie and product reviews, as well as opinions and comments in news articles. Our results highlight the extent to which the prediction performance of these methods varies considerably across datasets. Aiming at boosting the development of this research area, we open the methods' codes and datasets used in this article, deploying them in a benchmark system, which provides an open API for accessing and comparing sentence-level sentiment analysis methods

Olfactory function and viral recovery in COVID-19

Olfactory and taste disorders were reported in up to 30%-80% of COVID-19 patients. The purpose of our study was to objectively assess smell impairment in COVID-19 patients and to correlate olfactory function with viral recovery

The stability for the Cauchy problem for elliptic equations

We discuss the ill-posed Cauchy problem for elliptic equations, which is pervasive in inverse boundary value problems modeled by elliptic equations. We provide essentially optimal stability results, in wide generality and under substantially minimal assumptions. As a general scheme in our arguments, we show that all such stability results can be derived by the use of a single building brick, the three-spheres inequality.Comment: 57 pages, review articl

Large-Mass Ultra-Low Noise Germanium Detectors: Performance and Applications in Neutrino and Astroparticle Physics

A new type of radiation detector, a p-type modified electrode germanium diode, is presented. The prototype displays, for the first time, a combination of features (mass, energy threshold and background expectation) required for a measurement of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering in a nuclear reactor experiment. The device hybridizes the mass and energy resolution of a conventional HPGe coaxial gamma spectrometer with the low electronic noise and threshold of a small x-ray semiconductor detector, also displaying an intrinsic ability to distinguish multiple from single-site particle interactions. The present performance of the prototype and possible further improvements are discussed, as well as other applications for this new type of device in neutrino and astroparticle physics (double-beta decay, neutrino magnetic moment and WIMP searches).Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Transcriptional profiling of MnSOD-mediated lifespan extension in Drosophila reveals a species-general network of aging and metabolic genes.

BACKGROUND: Several interventions increase lifespan in model organisms, including reduced insulin/insulin-like growth factor-like signaling (IIS), FOXO transcription factor activation, dietary restriction, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) over-expression. One question is whether these manipulations function through different mechanisms, or whether they intersect on common processes affecting aging. RESULTS: A doxycycline-regulated system was used to over-express manganese-SOD (MnSOD) in adult Drosophila, yielding increases in mean and maximal lifespan of 20%. Increased lifespan resulted from lowered initial mortality rate and required MnSOD over-expression in the adult. Transcriptional profiling indicated that the expression of specific genes was altered by MnSOD in a manner opposite to their pattern during normal aging, revealing a set of candidate biomarkers of aging enriched for carbohydrate metabolism and electron transport genes and suggesting a true delay in physiological aging, rather than a novel phenotype. Strikingly, cross-dataset comparisons indicated that the pattern of gene expression caused by MnSOD was similar to that observed in long-lived Caenorhabditis elegans insulin-like signaling mutants and to the xenobiotic stress response, thus exposing potential conserved longevity promoting genes and implicating detoxification in Drosophila longevity. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that MnSOD up-regulation and a retrograde signal of reactive oxygen species from the mitochondria normally function as an intermediate step in the extension of lifespan caused by reduced insulin-like signaling in various species. The results implicate a species-conserved net of coordinated genes that affect the rate of senescence by modulating energetic efficiency, purine biosynthesis, apoptotic pathways, endocrine signals, and the detoxification and excretion of metabolites.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Health-related quality of life in Huntington’s Disease patients: a comparison of proxy assessment and patient self-rating using the disease-specific Huntington’s Disease health-related quality of life questionnaire (HDQoL)

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease for which there is no known cure. Proxy evaluation is relevant for HD as its manifestation might limit the ability of persons to report their health-related quality of life (HrQoL). This study explored patient–proxy ratings of HrQoL of persons at different stages of HD, and examined factors that may affect proxy ratings. A total of 105 patient–proxy pairs completed the Huntington’s disease health-related quality of life questionnaire (HDQoL) and other established HrQoL measures (EQ-5D and SF-12v2). Proxy–patient agreement was assessed in terms of absolute level (mean ratings) and intraclass correlation. Proxies’ ratings were at a similar level to patients’ self-ratings on an overall Summary Score and on most of the six Specific Scales of the HDQoL. On the Specific Hopes and Worries Scale, proxies on average rated HrQoL as better than patients’ self-ratings, while on both the Specific Cognitive Scale and Specific Physical and Functional Scale proxies tended to rate HrQoL more poorly than patients themselves. The patient’s disease stage and mental wellbeing (SF-12 Mental Component scale) were the two factors that primarily affected proxy assessment. Proxy scores were strongly correlated with patients’ self-ratings of HrQoL, on the Summary Scale and all Specific Scales. The patient–proxy correlation was lower for patients at moderate stages of HD compared to patients at early and advanced stages. The proxy report version of the HDQoL is a useful complementary tool to self-assessment, and a promising alternative when individual patients with advanced HD are unable to self-report