893 research outputs found
PDB14 COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF MONO- AND COMBINATION THERAPY WITH PIOGLITAZONE COMPARED TO GLICLAZIDE IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE-2-DIABETES MELLITUS FROM A GERMAN STATUTORY HEALTH CARE PERSPECTIVE
Collective Edge Excitations In The Quantum Hall Regime: Edge Helicons And Landau-level Structure
Based on a microscopic evaluation of the local current density, a treatment
of edge magnetoplasmons (EMP) is presented for confining potentials that allow
Landau level (LL) flattening to be neglected. Mode damping due to
electron-phonon interaction is evaluated. For nu=1, 2 there exist independent
modes spatially symmetric or antisymmetric with respect to the edge. Certain
modes, changing shape during propagation, are nearly undamped even for very
strong dissipation and are termed edge helicons.
For nu > 2 inter-LL Coulomb coupling leads to a strong repulsion of the
decoupled LL fundamental modes. The theory agrees well with recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages in Latex/Revtex/two-column format, 3 ps figure
MR thermometry characterization of a hyperthermia ultrasound array designed using the k-space computational method
BACKGROUND: Ultrasound induced hyperthermia is a useful adjuvant to radiation therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer. A uniform thermal dose (43°C for 30 minutes) is required within the targeted cancerous volume for effective therapy. This requires specific ultrasound phased array design and appropriate thermometry method. Inhomogeneous, acoustical, three-dimensional (3D) prostate models and economical computational methods provide necessary tools to predict the appropriate shape of hyperthermia phased arrays for better focusing. This research utilizes the k-space computational method and a 3D human prostate model to design an intracavitary ultrasound probe for hyperthermia treatment of prostate cancer. Evaluation of the probe includes ex vivo and in vivo controlled hyperthermia experiments using the noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) thermometry. METHODS: A 3D acoustical prostate model was created using photographic data from the Visible Human Project(®). The k-space computational method was used on this coarse grid and inhomogeneous tissue model to simulate the steady state pressure wavefield of the designed phased array using the linear acoustic wave equation. To ensure the uniformity and spread of the pressure in the length of the array, and the focusing capability in the width of the array, the equally-sized elements of the 4 × 20 elements phased array were 1 × 14 mm. A probe was constructed according to the design in simulation using lead zerconate titanate (PZT-8) ceramic and a Delrin(® )plastic housing. Noninvasive MRI thermometry and a switching feedback controller were used to accomplish ex vivo and in vivo hyperthermia evaluations of the probe. RESULTS: Both exposimetry and k-space simulation results demonstrated acceptable agreement within 9%. With a desired temperature plateau of 43.0°C, ex vivo and in vivo controlled hyperthermia experiments showed that the MRI temperature at the steady state was 42.9 ± 0.38°C and 43.1 ± 0.80°C, respectively, for 20 minutes of heating. CONCLUSION: Unlike conventional computational methods, the k-space method provides a powerful tool to predict pressure wavefield in large scale, 3D, inhomogeneous and coarse grid tissue models. Noninvasive MRI thermometry supports the efficacy of this probe and the feedback controller in an in vivo hyperthermia treatment of canine prostate
Baryon polarization in low-energy unpolarized meson-baryon scattering
We compute the polarization of the final-state baryon, in its rest frame, in
low-energy meson--baryon scattering with unpolarized initial state, in
Unitarized BChPT. Free parameters are determined by fitting total and
differential cross-section data (and spin-asymmetry or polarization data if
available) for , and scattering. We also compare our
results with those of leading-order BChPT
A mathematical model for fibro-proliferative wound healing disorders
The normal process of dermal wound healing fails in some cases, due to fibro-proliferative disorders such as keloid and hypertrophic scars. These types of abnormal healing may be regarded as pathologically excessive responses to wounding in terms of fibroblastic cell profiles and their inflammatory growth-factor mediators. Biologically, these conditions are poorly understood and current medical treatments are thus unreliable.
In this paper, the authors apply an existing deterministic mathematical model for fibroplasia and wound contraction in adult mammalian dermis (Olsenet al., J. theor. Biol. 177, 113–128, 1995) to investigate key clinical problems concerning these healing disorders. A caricature model is proposed which retains the fundamental cellular and chemical components of the full model, in order to analyse the spatiotemporal dynamics of the initiation, progression, cessation and regression of fibro-contractive diseases in relation to normal healing. This model accounts for fibroblastic cell migration, proliferation and death and growth-factor diffusion, production by cells and tissue removal/decay.
Explicit results are obtained in terms of the model processes and parameters. The rate of cellular production of the chemical is shown to be critical to the development of a stable pathological state. Further, cessation and/or regression of the disease depend on appropriate spatiotemporally varying forms for this production rate, which can be understood in terms of the bistability of the normal dermal and pathological steady states—a central property of the model, which is evident from stability and bifurcation analyses.
The work predicts novel, biologically realistic and testable pathogenic and control mechanisms, the understanding of which will lead toward more effective strategies for clinical therapy of fibro-proliferative disorders
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