Optical guided dispersions and subwavelength transmissions in dispersive plasmonic circular holes

The light transmission through a dispersive plasmonic circular hole is numerically investigated with an emphasis on its subwavelength guidance. For a better understanding of the effect of the hole diameter on the guided dispersion characteristics, the guided modes, including both the surface plasmon polariton mode and the circular waveguide mode, are studied for several hole diameters, especially when the metal cladding has a plasmonic frequency dependency. A brief comparison is also made with the guided dispersion characteristics of a dispersive plasmonic gap [K. Y. Kim, et al., Opt. Express 14, 320-330 (2006)], which is a planar version of the present structure, and a circular waveguide with perfect electric conductor cladding. Finally, the modal behavior of the first three TM-like principal modes with varied hole diameters is examined for the same operating mode.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Patterns of Carbon-Bound Exogenous Compounds in Patients with Lung Cancer and Association with Disease Pathophysiology.

Asymptomatic anthracosis is the accumulation of black carbon particles in adult human lungs. It is a common occurrence, but the pathophysiologic significance of anthracosis is debatable. Using in situ high mass resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry imaging analysis, we discovered noxious carbon-bound exogenous compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), tobacco-specific nitrosamines, or aromatic amines, in a series of 330 patients with lung cancer in highly variable and unique patterns. The characteristic nature of carbon-bound exogenous compounds had a strong association with patient outcome, tumor progression, the tumor immune microenvironment, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, and DNA damage. Spatial correlation network analyses revealed substantial differences in the metabolome of tumor cells compared with tumor stroma depending on carbon-bound exogenous compounds. Overall, the bioactive pool of exogenous compounds is associated with several changes in lung cancer pathophysiology and correlates with patient outcome. Given the high prevalence of anthracosis in the lungs of adult humans, future work should investigate the role of carbon-bound exogenous compounds in lung carcinogenesis and lung cancer therapy. SIGNIFICANCE: This study identifies a bioactive pool of carbon-bound exogenous compounds in patient tissues associated with several tumor biological features, contributing to an improved understanding of drivers of lung cancer pathophysiology

An XML schema for managing fuzzy documents

Topics related to fuzzy data have been investigated in the classical database research field, and in the last years they are becoming interesting also in the XML data context. In this work, we consider issues related to the representation and management of fuzzy data by using XML documents. We propose to represent different aspects of fuzzy information by starting from proposals coming from the classical database context. We extend and integrate their datatype classifications in order to propose a complete and general approach for representing fuzzy information in XML documents by using XML Schema. In particular, we describe a fuzzy XML Schema Definition taking into account fuzzy datatypes and elements needed to fully represent fuzzy information

Incisuroplastia troclear e estabilização articular após transecção do ligamento cruzado cranial: Estudo clínico e radiográfico em cães Intercondylar notchplasty and fascial strip repair following transection of the cranial cruciate ligament: Clinical and radiographic aspects in the dog

Avaliaram-se as alterações clínicas e radiográficas em nove cães adultos, após a transecção do ligamento cruzado cranial (LCCr) seguida da substituição ligamentar por retalho de fáscia lata, associada ou não à incisuroplastia troclear (ITR). O joelho direito (GI) foi submetido à ITR e posterior estabilização articular, e o esquerdo somente à substituição ligamentar (GC). Os animais foram avaliados nos períodos pré-operatório, pós-operatório (po) imediato e aos 30, 90 e 180 dias de po, período coincidente com o momento de eutanásia de subgrupos de três cães. A instabilidade articular e o grau de claudicação diminuíram significativamente durante o período de avaliação, apesar da instabilidade persistir durante a flexão articular. Observou-se decréscimo significativo do perímetro muscular da coxa aos 30 e 90 dias p.o. em ambos os grupos. Não foram evidenciadas alterações nos graus de extensão e flexão articulares, na rotação interna da tíbia, na amplitude de movimento articular ou de doença articular degenerativa (DAD) durante o período de avaliação em ambos os grupos. Conclui-se que a ITR, associada à técnica de estabilização articular, não produz alterações em nenhuma das variáveis estudadas em cães, quando comparada à estabilização intra-articular, isoladamente.<br>Clinical and radiographic changes associated with intercondylar notchplasty (IN) after transection of the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) followed by a fascial strip reconstruction were studied in nine adult dogs. The right stifle was submitted to IN followed by fascial strip reconstruction of the CCL (GI) while in the left IN was not performed (GC). Dogs were evaluated the day prior to surgery, on the immediate postoperative day and at 30, 90 and 180 days after surgery, time at which a subgroup of three dogs were euthanatized. Instability and lameness significantly decreased throughout the evaluation period, although instability was observed during flexion. There was a significant decrease in muscle perimeter at 30 and 90 days po in both groups. Changes in degree of extension, flexion, internal rotation of the tibia, range of motion, or DAD were not observed throughout the evaluation period in any group. It is concluded that IN, followed by a fascial strip reconstruction of the CCL does not cause any change in the variables studied in dogs, when compared to a fascial strip reconstruction alone

Cell wall hemicelluloses as mobile carbon stores in non-reproductive plant tissues

As essential compounds of plant cell walls, hemicelluloses account for about a quarter of all plant biomass worldwide. In seed cotyledons and endosperm of species from several plant families, hemicelluloses are used as mobile carbon reserves. Whether cell wall hemicelluloses of non-reproductive plant tissue are multifunctional molecules, which can also serve as carbon sources during periods of enhanced carbon demand, is still equivocal. This review summarizes the current understanding of a possible reserve function of hemicelluloses. Although several descriptive and experimental studies suggested at least partial mobility of cell wall polysaccharides in mature, non-reproductive plant tissues, there is still a need for a broad-scale, ecophysiological exploration of the actual nature of hemicelluloses beyond their structural function. The chemical heterogeneity of hemicelluloses may be the major problem for precise quantitative analyses on a large, comparative scale. Because of the abundant distribution of hemicelluloses in plants, the existence of a significant mobile carbohydrate pool in cell walls of non-reproductive organs would shed rather new light on plant carbon relations in a source-sink context. Consequently, a reserve function of hemicelluloses questions the conventional division of cell compounds into structural (i.e. immobile) and non-structural (i.e. mobile) compounds