155 research outputs found
Numerical consistency check between two approaches to radiative corrections for neutrino masses and mixings
We briefly outline the two popular approaches on radiative corrections to
neutrino masses and mixing angles, and then carry out a detailed numerical
analysis for a consistency check between them in MSSM. We find that the two
approaches are nearly consistent with a small discrepancy of a factor of 13
percent in mass eigenvalues at low energy scale, but the predictions on mixing
angles are almost consistent. We check the stability of the three types of
neutrino models, i.e., hierarchical, inverted hierarchical and degenerate
models, under radiative corrections, using both approaches, and find consistent
conclusions. The neutrino mass models which are found to be stable under
radiative corrections in MSSM are the normal hierarchical model and the
inverted hierarchical model with opposite CP parity. We also carry out
numerical analysis on some important conjectures related to radiative
corrections in MSSM, viz., radiative magnification of solar and atmospheric
mixings in case of nearly degenerate model having same CP parity (MPR
conjecture) and radiative generation of solar mass scale in exactly two-fold
degenerate model with opposite CP parity and non-zero reactor angle (JM
conjecture). We observe certain exceptions to these conjectures. Finally the
effect of scale-dependent vacuum expectation value in neutrino mass
renormalisation is discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures,references added, typos corrected and text
modifie
Comparison of Blood Pressure in Beta Thalassemia Major Patients with that of Control
Introduction and Objectives : β-thalassemia major patients need to have repeated blood transfusions throughout their life for survival, which leads to so many complications. Heart disease is the most important complication and the main determinant of survival in these patients. Our study shows comparison of blood pressure between these patients and that of normal subjects.
Material and Methods : Present study was a cross sectional type of study and consisted of 100 normal subjects (control group) and 100 patients of beta thalassemia major (study group). Blood pressure was recorded in both the groups using mercury sphygmomanometer and statistical analysis of the observations was done using Z test.
Results : There was no statistically significant difference in the Systolic blood pressure (SBP) of study group as compared to control group whereas there was a difference in the Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of study group and control group which was statistically significant (p value <0.0001).
Conclusion : There was an overall reduction in the blood pressure of study group as compared to control group but the difference in SBP was statistically not significant whereas that of DBP was statistically significant.
Key Words: Beta thalassemia major, Diastolic blood pressure, Systolic blood pressur
Comparison of Blood Pressure in Beta Thalassemia Major Patients with that of Control
Introduction and Objectives : β-thalassemia major patients need to have repeated blood transfusions throughout their life for survival, which leads to so many complications. Heart disease is the most important complication and the main determinant of survival in these patients. Our study shows comparison of blood pressure between these patients and that of normal subjects.
Material and Methods : Present study was a cross sectional type of study and consisted of 100 normal subjects (control group) and 100 patients of beta thalassemia major (study group). Blood pressure was recorded in both the groups using mercury sphygmomanometer and statistical analysis of the observations was done using Z test.
Results : There was no statistically significant difference in the Systolic blood pressure (SBP) of study group as compared to control group whereas there was a difference in the Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of study group and control group which was statistically significant (p value <0.0001).
Conclusion : There was an overall reduction in the blood pressure of study group as compared to control group but the difference in SBP was statistically not significant whereas that of DBP was statistically significant.
Key Words: Beta thalassemia major, Diastolic blood pressure, Systolic blood pressur
Gastrointestinal endoscopy during the coronavirus pandemic in the New York area: results from a multi-institutional survey.
Background and study aims  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and measures taken to mitigate its impact, have profoundly affected the clinical care of gastroenterology patients and the work of endoscopy units. We aimed to describe the clinical care delivered by gastroenterologists and the type of procedures performed during the early to peak period of the pandemic. Methods  Endoscopy leaders in the New York region were invited to participate in an electronic survey describing operations and clinical service. Surveys were distributed on April 7, 2020 and responses were collected over the following week. A follow-up survey was distributed on April 20, 2020. Participants were asked to report procedure volumes and patient characteristics, as well protocols for staffing and testing for COVID-19. Results  Eleven large academic endoscopy units in the New York City region responded to the survey, representing every major hospital system. COVID patients occupied an average of 54.5 % (18 - 84 %) of hospital beds at the time of survey completion, with 14.5 % (2 %-23 %) of COVID patients requiring intensive care. Endoscopy procedure volume and the number of physicians performing procedures declined by 90 % (66 %-98 %) and 84.5 % (50 %-97 %) respectively following introduction of restricted practice. During this period the most common procedures were EGDs (7.9/unit/week; 88 % for bleeding; the remainder for foreign body and feeding tube placement); ERCPs (5/unit/week; for cholangitis in 67 % and obstructive jaundice in 20 %); Colonoscopies (4/unit/week for bleeding in 77 % or colitis in 23 %) and least common were EUS (3/unit/week for tumor biopsies). Of the sites, 44 % performed pre-procedure COVID testing and the proportion of COVID-positive patients undergoing procedures was 4.6 % in the first 2 weeks and up to 19.6 % in the subsequent 2 weeks. The majority of COVID-positive patients undergoing procedures underwent EGD (30.6 % COVID +) and ERCP (10.2 % COVID +). Conclusions  COVID-19 has profoundly impacted the operation of endoscopy units in the New York region. Our data show the impact of a restricted emergency practice on endoscopy volumes and the proportion of expected COVID positive cases during the peak time of the pandemic
Discriminating neutrino mass models using Type II seesaw formula
In this paper we propose a kind of natural selection which can discriminate
the three possible neutrino mass models, namely the degenerate, inverted
hierarchical and normal hierarchical models, using the framework of Type II
seesaw formula. We arrive at a conclusion that the inverted hierarchical model
appears to be most favourable whereas the normal hierarchical model follows
next to it. The degenerate model is found to be most unfavourable. We use the
hypothesis that those neutrino mass models in which Type I seesaw term
dominates over the Type II left-handed Higgs triplet term are favoured to
survive in nature.Comment: No change in the results, a few references added, some changes in
Type[IIB] calculation
TriResNet: A Deep Triple-stream Residual Network for Histopathology Grading
While microscopic analysis of histopathological slides is generally
considered as the gold standard method for performing cancer diagnosis and
grading, the current method for analysis is extremely time consuming and labour
intensive as it requires pathologists to visually inspect tissue samples in a
detailed fashion for the presence of cancer. As such, there has been
significant recent interest in computer aided diagnosis systems for analysing
histopathological slides for cancer grading to aid pathologists to perform
cancer diagnosis and grading in a more efficient, accurate, and consistent
manner. In this work, we investigate and explore a deep triple-stream residual
network (TriResNet) architecture for the purpose of tile-level histopathology
grading, which is the critical first step to computer-aided whole-slide
histopathology grading. In particular, the design mentality behind the proposed
TriResNet network architecture is to facilitate for the learning of a more
diverse set of quantitative features to better characterize the complex tissue
characteristics found in histopathology samples. Experimental results on two
widely-used computer-aided histopathology benchmark datasets (CAMELYON16
dataset and Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) dataset) demonstrated that the
proposed TriResNet network architecture was able to achieve noticeably improved
accuracies when compared with two other state-of-the-art deep convolutional
neural network architectures. Based on these promising results, the hope is
that the proposed TriResNet network architecture could become a useful tool to
aiding pathologists increase the consistency, speed, and accuracy of the
histopathology grading process.Comment: 9 page
Assessing internet-based information used to aid patient decision-making about surgery for perianal Crohn's fistula.
BACKGROUND: Decision-making in perianal Crohn's fistula (pCD) is preference sensitive. Patients use the internet to access healthcare information. The aim of this study was to assess the online information and patient decision aids relating to surgery for pCD. METHODS: A search of Google™ and the Decision Aids Library Inventory (DALI) was performed using a predefined search strategy. Patient-focussed sources providing information about pCD surgery were included in the analysis. Written health information was assessed using the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) and DISCERN criteria. The readability of the source content was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid score. RESULTS: Of the 201 sources found, 187 were excluded, leaving 14 sources for analysis. Three sources were dedicated to pCD, and six sources mentioned pCD-specific outcomes. The most common surgical intervention reported was seton insertion (n = 13). The least common surgical intervention reported was proctectomy (n = 1). The mean IPDAS and DISCERN scores were 4.43 ± 1.65 out of 12 (range = 2-8) and 2.93 ± 0.73 out of 5 (range = 1-5), respectively. The mean reading ease was US college standard. CONCLUSIONS: We found no patient decision aids relating to surgery for pCD. The online sources relating to surgery for pCD are few, and their quality is poor, as seen in the low IPDAS and DISCERN scores. Less than half of the sources mentioned pCD-specific outcomes, and three sources were solely dedicated to providing information on pCD. Healthcare professionals should look to create a patient tool to assist decision-making in pCD
Hepatitis B Virus Alters the Antioxidant System in Transgenic Mice and Sensitizes Hepatocytes to Fas Signaling
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major etiological factor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the precise pathogenetic mechanisms linking HBV infection and HCC remain uncertain. It has been reported that decreased antioxidant enzyme activities are associated with severe liver injury and hepatocarcinogenesis in mouse models. It is unclear if HBV can interfere with the activities of antioxidant enzymes. We established a HBV transgenic mouse line, which spontaneously developed HCC at 2 years of age. We studied the activities of the antioxidant enzymes in the liver of the HBV transgenic mice. Our results showed that the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase 2 were down-regulated in HBV transgenic mice and correlated with JNK activation. HBV enhanced the Fas-mediated activation of caspase 6, caspase 8 and JNK without enhancing the activation of caspase 3 and hepatocellular apoptosis. As a proper redox balance is important for maintaining cellular homeostasis, these effects of HBV on the host antioxidant system and Fas-signaling may play an important role in HBV-induced hepatocarcinogenesis
Implication for Functions of the Ectopic Adipocyte Copper Amine Oxidase (AOC3) from Purified Enzyme and Cell-Based Kinetic Studies
AOC3 is highly expressed in adipocytes and smooth muscle cells, but its function in these cells is currently unknown. The in vivo substrate(s) of AOC3 is/are also unknown, but could provide an invaluable clue to the enzyme's function. Expression of untagged, soluble human AOC3 in insect cells provides a relatively simple means of obtaining pure enzyme. Characterization of enzyme indicates a 6% titer for the active site 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine quinone (TPQ) cofactor and corrected kcat values as high as 7 s−1. Substrate kinetic profiling shows that the enzyme accepts a variety of primary amines with different chemical features, including nonphysiological branched-chain and aliphatic amines, with measured kcat/Km values between 102 and 104 M−1 s−1. Km(O2) approximates the partial pressure of oxygen found in the interstitial space. Comparison of the properties of purified murine to human enzyme indicates kcat/Km values that are within 3 to 4-fold, with the exception of methylamine and aminoacetone that are ca. 10-fold more active with human AOC3. With drug development efforts investigating AOC3 as an anti-inflammatory target, these studies suggest that caution is called for when screening the efficacy of inhibitors designed against human enzymes in non-transgenic mouse models. Differentiated murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes show a uniform distribution of AOC3 on the cell surface and whole cell Km values that are reasonably close to values measured using purified enzymes. The latter studies support a relevance of the kinetic parameters measured with isolated AOC3 variants to adipocyte function. From our studies, a number of possible substrates with relatively high kcat/Km have been discovered, including dopamine and cysteamine, which may implicate a role for adipocyte AOC3 in insulin-signaling and fatty acid metabolism, respectively. Finally, the demonstrated AOC3 turnover of primary amines that are non-native to human tissue suggests possible roles for the adipocyte enzyme in subcutaneous bacterial infiltration and obesity
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