Usual Tumor at an Unusual Site - A Leiomyoma Masquerading as a Urethral Polyp.

Polyps and papillomas encompass the most common benign tumors of the urethra.Leiomyoma of urethra is a rare clinical entity which can be diagnosed only with histopathological examination and only around 35 such cases have been reported worldwide

Application of Bayesian graphs to SN Ia data analysis and compression

Bayesian graphical models are an efficient tool for modelling complex data and derive self-consistent expressions of the posterior distribution of model parameters. We apply Bayesian graphs to perform statistical analyses of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) luminosity distance measurements from the joint light-curve analysis (JLA) data set. In contrast to the $\chi^2$ approach used in previous studies, the Bayesian inference allows us to fully account for the standard-candle parameter dependence of the data covariance matrix. Comparing with $\chi^2$ analysis results, we find a systematic offset of the marginal model parameter bounds. We demonstrate that the bias is statistically significant in the case of the SN Ia standardization parameters with a maximal 6 $\sigma$ shift of the SN light-curve colour correction. In addition, we find that the evidence for a host galaxy correction is now only 2.4 $\sigma$. Systematic offsets on the cosmological parameters remain small, but may increase by combining constraints from complementary cosmological probes. The bias of the $\chi^2$ analysis is due to neglecting the parameter-dependent log-determinant of the data covariance, which gives more statistical weight to larger values of the standardization parameters. We find a similar effect on compressed distance modulus data. To this end, we implement a fully consistent compression method of the JLA data set that uses a Gaussian approximation of the posterior distribution for fast generation of compressed data. Overall, the results of our analysis emphasize the need for a fully consistent Bayesian statistical approach in the analysis of future large SN Ia data sets.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to MNRAS. Compression utility available at https://gitlab.com/congma/libsncompress/ and example cosmology code with machine-readable version of Tables A1 & A2 at https://gitlab.com/congma/sn-bayesian-model-example/ v2: corrected typo in author's name. v3: 15 pages, incl. corrections, matches the accepted versio

Trunk muscle training, posture fatigue, and performance in laparoscopic surgery

Purpose: To investigate the effect of trunk muscle endurance training on the perception of back postural fatigue and performance of a laparoscopic task. Materials and Methods: Thirty-one medical students (18 men and 13 women) with no laparoscopic surgical experience were randomly assigned to either a training group or a control group. Participants in the training group underwent a 6-week, 18-session trunk (abdominal and back muscle) endurance training program, whereas participants in the control group did not. Performance by all participants was assessed on a simulated laparoscopic task under varying conditions of low back postural fatigue, both before and after the training program. Results: Participants in the training group showed significant improvements in trunk endurance after the 6-week trunk endurance training program (P 0.05). Conclusion: Increasing trunk endurance can reduce postural fatigue and discomfort during simulated laparoscopic tasks, which may assist in the management of errors during laparoscopy. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2008.published_or_final_versio

Renormalization group approach to multiparticle density fluctuations

An iterative procedure is developed with the aim of constructing homogeneity rules for the distribution P(rho,delta) of the particle density rho at resolution scale delta. A single iteration step consists of a change in the normalization point of P(rho,delta) followed by a rescaling. Similar transformation rule is introduced for density fluctuations contaminated by Poisson noise. Application of the iterative procedure is given for the Ginzburg-Landau description of phase-transition from the quark-gluon plasma and for random cascading models.Comment: 11 pages REVTeX, 1 figure include

A proposal for detecting the spin of a single electron in superfluid helium

The electron bubble in superfluid helium has two degrees of freedom that may offer exceptionally low dissipation: the electron's spin and the bubble's motion. If these degrees of freedom can be read out and controlled with sufficient sensitivity, they would provide a novel platform for realizing a range of quantum technologies and for exploring open questions in the physics of superfluid helium. Here we propose a practical scheme for accomplishing this by trapping an electron bubble inside a superfluid-filled opto-acoustic cavity.Comment: Main text: 5 pages, 5 figures. Supplement: 11 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Photoluminescent arginine‐functionalized polycitrate with enhanced cell activity and hemocompatibility for live cell bioimaging

Development of biodegradable and highly biocompatible polymer with intrinsical photoluminescence and high photostability for real‐time live cell bioimaging has attracted much attention recently. Here, a biodegradable and amphiphilic poly (citrate)‐co‐poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted with arginine (PCGA) polymer with intrinsical fluorescence was synthesized for targeted live cell bioimaging. The physicochemical structure, photoluminescent properties, hemocompatibility, cytotoxicity, and fluorescent bioimaging studies in live cells were determined in detail. PCGA showed a significantly high hemocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and excellent photostability, which allows for imaging the live cells attachment and proliferation. Furthermore, PCGA could efficiently enhance cell attachment and proliferation due to the presence of arginine, suggesting their high cellular biocompatibility. Importantly, PCGA could selectively stain the lysosome in cells. Our results demonstrated that the amino acid‐based polymer functionalization may be an important strategy to develop multifunctional biomaterials with enhanced biocompatibility for targeted bioimaging, cancer therapy, and regenerative medicine. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 3175–3184, 2018.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146603/1/jbma36512.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146603/2/jbma36512_am.pd

Non-Thermal Plasma Activation of Gold-Based Catalysts for Low-Temperature Water-Gas Shift Catalysis

Acknowledgements The UK Catalysis Hub is kindly thanked for resources and support provided via our membership of the UK Catalysis Hub Consortium and funded by EPSRC (Portfolio Grants EP/K014706/2, EP/K014668/1, EP/K014854/1, EP/K014714/1, and EP/I019693/1). Open access data can be found via the University of Manchester research portal. We are grateful to Helen Daly (Queen's University Belfast) for discussion, to Fabio de Rosa (Queen's University Belfast) for the thermodynamic equilibrium calculations (obtained using the Convergence tool of Aspen Plus 8.0) and to Emma Gibson (Harwell Research Complex) for the BET measurements. JJ Delgado is grateful to Ramon y Cajal program and the Ce-NanoSurPhases project grant from MINECO.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprintPublisher PD

Peanut oral immunotherapy transiently expands circulating Ara h 2–specific B cells with a homologous repertoire in unrelated subjects

Background Peanut oral immunotherapy (PNOIT) induces persistent tolerance to peanut in a subset of patients and induces specific antibodies that might play a role in clinical protection. However, the contribution of induced antibody clones to clinical tolerance in PNOIT is unknown. Objective We hypothesized that PNOIT induces a clonal, allergen-specific B-cell response that could serve as a surrogate for clinical outcomes. Methods We used a fluorescent Ara h 2 multimer for affinity selection of Ara h 2–specific B cells and subsequent single-cell immunoglobulin amplification. The diversity of related clones was evaluated by means of next-generation sequencing of immunoglobulin heavy chains from circulating memory B cells with 2x250 paired-end sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Results Expression of class-switched antibodies from Ara h 2–positive cells confirms enrichment for Ara h 2 specificity. PNOIT induces an early and transient expansion of circulating Ara h 2–specific memory B cells that peaks at week 7. Ara h 2–specific sequences from memory cells have rates of nonsilent mutations consistent with affinity maturation. The repertoire of Ara h 2–specific antibodies is oligoclonal. Next-generation sequencing–based repertoire analysis of circulating memory B cells reveals evidence for convergent selection of related sequences in 3 unrelated subjects, suggesting the presence of similar Ara h 2–specific B-cell clones. Conclusions Using a novel affinity selection approach to identify antigen-specific B cells, we demonstrate that the early PNOIT-induced Ara h 2–specific B-cell receptor repertoire is oligoclonal and somatically hypermutated and shares similar clonal groups among unrelated subjects consistent with convergent selection. Key words Immunotherapy; antigen-specific B cells; peanut allergy; food allergy; antibody repertoire Abbreviations used APC, Allophycocyanin; BCR, B-cell receptor; CDR, Complementarity-determining region; NGS, Next-generation sequencing; OIT, Oral immunotherapy; PNOIT, Peanut oral immunotherapyNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (NIAID U19 AI087881)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (NIAID U19 AI095261)United States. National Institutes of Health (1S10RR023440-01A1)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (NIAID F32 AI104182)United States. National Institutes of Health (UL1 TR001102

Dealing with missing standard deviation and mean values in meta-analysis of continuous outcomes: a systematic review

Background: Rigorous, informative meta-analyses rely on availability of appropriate summary statistics or individual participant data. For continuous outcomes, especially those with naturally skewed distributions, summary information on the mean or variability often goes unreported. While full reporting of original trial data is the ideal, we sought to identify methods for handling unreported mean or variability summary statistics in meta-analysis. Methods: We undertook two systematic literature reviews to identify methodological approaches used to deal with missing mean or variability summary statistics. Five electronic databases were searched, in addition to the Cochrane Colloquium abstract books and the Cochrane Statistics Methods Group mailing list archive. We also conducted cited reference searching and emailed topic experts to identify recent methodological developments. Details recorded included the description of the method, the information required to implement the method, any underlying assumptions and whether the method could be readily applied in standard statistical software. We provided a summary description of the methods identified, illustrating selected methods in example meta-analysis scenarios. Results: For missing standard deviations (SDs), following screening of 503 articles, fifteen methods were identified in addition to those reported in a previous review. These included Bayesian hierarchical modelling at the meta-analysis level; summary statistic level imputation based on observed SD values from other trials in the meta-analysis; a practical approximation based on the range; and algebraic estimation of the SD based on other summary statistics. Following screening of 1124 articles for methods estimating the mean, one approximate Bayesian computation approach and three papers based on alternative summary statistics were identified. Illustrative meta-analyses showed that when replacing a missing SD the approximation using the range minimised loss of precision and generally performed better than omitting trials. When estimating missing means, a formula using the median, lower quartile and upper quartile performed best in preserving the precision of the meta-analysis findings, although in some scenarios, omitting trials gave superior results. Conclusions: Methods based on summary statistics (minimum, maximum, lower quartile, upper quartile, median) reported in the literature facilitate more comprehensive inclusion of randomised controlled trials with missing mean or variability summary statistics within meta-analyses