1,272 research outputs found
Cochlear reimplantation
Since its inception in 1988 the Cochlear Implant Programme in Manchester has successfully implanted 69 adults and 23 children. Of these 92 procedures, three patients have undergone revision surgery with the insertion of either a new implant or re-positioning of the existing device. We examine the circumstances that lead to the need for reimplantation in these patients, discuss the technical aspects of revision surgery together with the functional results of such procedures. Re-operatio
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Sixteen years of bathymetry and waves at San Diego beaches.
Sustained, quantitative observations of nearshore waves and sand levels are essential for testing beach evolution models, but comprehensive datasets are relatively rare. We document beach profiles and concurrent waves monitored at three southern California beaches during 2001-2016. The beaches include offshore reefs, lagoon mouths, hard substrates, and cobble and sandy (medium-grained) sediments. The data span two energetic El Niño winters and four beach nourishments. Quarterly surveys of 165 total cross-shore transects (all sites) at 100 m alongshore spacing were made from the backbeach to 8 m depth. Monthly surveys of the subaerial beach were obtained at alongshore-oriented transects. The resulting dataset consists of (1) raw sand elevation data, (2) gridded elevations, (3) interpolated elevation maps with error estimates, (4) beach widths, subaerial and total sand volumes, (5) locations of hard substrate and beach nourishments, (6) water levels from a NOAA tide gauge (7) wave conditions from a buoy-driven regional wave model, and (8) time periods and reaches with alongshore uniform bathymetry, suitable for testing 1-dimensional beach profile change models
Guaranteed clustering and biclustering via semidefinite programming
Identifying clusters of similar objects in data plays a significant role in a
wide range of applications. As a model problem for clustering, we consider the
densest k-disjoint-clique problem, whose goal is to identify the collection of
k disjoint cliques of a given weighted complete graph maximizing the sum of the
densities of the complete subgraphs induced by these cliques. In this paper, we
establish conditions ensuring exact recovery of the densest k cliques of a
given graph from the optimal solution of a particular semidefinite program. In
particular, the semidefinite relaxation is exact for input graphs corresponding
to data consisting of k large, distinct clusters and a smaller number of
outliers. This approach also yields a semidefinite relaxation for the
biclustering problem with similar recovery guarantees. Given a set of objects
and a set of features exhibited by these objects, biclustering seeks to
simultaneously group the objects and features according to their expression
levels. This problem may be posed as partitioning the nodes of a weighted
bipartite complete graph such that the sum of the densities of the resulting
bipartite complete subgraphs is maximized. As in our analysis of the densest
k-disjoint-clique problem, we show that the correct partition of the objects
and features can be recovered from the optimal solution of a semidefinite
program in the case that the given data consists of several disjoint sets of
objects exhibiting similar features. Empirical evidence from numerical
experiments supporting these theoretical guarantees is also provided
Mammographic density does not correlate with Ki-67 expression or cytomorphology in benign breast cells obtained by random periareolar fine needle aspiration from women at high risk for breast cancer
BACKGROUND:Ki-67 expression is a possible risk biomarker and is currently being used as a response biomarker in chemoprevention trials. Mammographic breast density is a risk biomarker and is also being used as a response biomarker. We previously showed that Ki-67 expression is higher in specimens of benign breast cells exhibiting cytologic atypia that are obtained by random periareolar fine needle aspiration (RPFNA). It is not known whether there is a correlation between mammographic density and Ki-67 expression in benign breast ductal cells obtained by RPFNA.METHODS:Included in the study were 344 women at high risk for developing breast cancer (based on personal or family history), seen at The University of Kansas Medical Center high-risk breast clinic, who underwent RPFNA with cytomorphology and Ki-67 assessment plus a mammogram. Mammographic breast density was assessed using the Cumulus program. Categorical variables were analyzed by ?2 test, and continuous variables were analyzed by nonparametric test and linear regression.RESULTS:Forty-seven per cent of women were premenopausal and 53% were postmenopausal. The median age was 48 years, median 5-year Gail Risk was 2.2%, and median Ki-67 was 1.9%. The median mammographic breast density was 37%. Ki-67 expression increased with cytologic abnormality (atypia versus no atypia; P = 0.001) and younger age (=50 years versus >50 years; P = 0.001). Mammographic density was higher in premenopausal women (P = 0.001), those with lower body mass index (P < 0.001), and those with lower 5-year Gail risk (P = 0.001). Mammographic density exhibited no correlation with Ki-67 expression or cytomorphology.CONCLUSION:Given the lack of correlation of mammographic breast density with either cytomorphology or Ki-67 expression in RPFNA specimens, mammographic density and Ki-67 expression should be considered as potentially complementary response biomarkers in breast cancer chemoprevention trials
The biological origin of linguistic diversity
In contrast with animal communication systems, diversity is characteristic of almost every aspect of human language. Languages variously employ tones, clicks, or manual signs to signal differences in meaning; some languages lack the noun-verb distinction (e.g., Straits Salish), whereas others have a proliferation of fine-grained syntactic categories (e.g., Tzeltal); and some languages do without morphology (e.g., Mandarin), while others pack a whole sentence into a single word (e.g., Cayuga). A challenge for evolutionary biology is to reconcile the diversity of languages with the high degree of biological uniformity of their speakers. Here, we model processes of language change and geographical dispersion and find a consistent pressure for flexible learning, irrespective of the language being spoken. This pressure arises because flexible learners can best cope with the observed high rates of linguistic change associated with divergent cultural evolution following human migration. Thus, rather than genetic adaptations for specific aspects of language, such as recursion, the coevolution of genes and fast-changing linguistic structure provides the biological basis for linguistic diversity. Only biological adaptations for flexible learning combined with cultural evolution can explain how each child has the potential to learn any human language
R-h-erythropoietin counteracts the inhibition of in vitro erythropoiesis by tumour necrosis factor alpha in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Anaemia of chronic disease (ACD) is a common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) plays an important role in the development of ACD. The objective of the present study was to assess inhibition of in vitro colony-forming unit erythrocyte (CFUe) and blast-forming unit erythrocyte (BFUe) growth by TNFα and to examine whether this suppression could be counteracted by adding increasing concentrations of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) (r-h-EPO) to bone marrow cultures of RA patients with ACD and without anaemia (controls). Bone marrow cells of RA patients with ACD and control patients were cultured. The cultures were incubated with increasing concentrations of r-h-EPO (0.25; 0.5; 1; 2 U/ml), each in combination with increasing quantities of TFNα (0; 50; 100; 200; 400 U/ml). CFUe and BFUe were assessed after 7 and 14 days, respectively. Dose-dependent inhibition of BFUe and CFUc by increasing concentrations of TNFα was observed in ACD and controls. Regarding CFUe (ACD patients) incubated with 0.25 U/ml EPO, 50 U/ml TNFα caused 28% suppression compared to cultures without TNFα. Increasing the concentration of r-h-EPO from 0.25 U/ml to 2 U/ml completely restored the number of CFUe. A similar pattern was observed in BFUe growth in both groups. These data demonstrated the suppressive effects of TNFα on erythropoiesis in vitro and that the suppresed erythropoiesis could be partly corrected by the addition of excess r-h-EPO to the cultures. No significant differences were observed between ACD and control RA patients. This in vitro model may help explain the clinical response to r-h-EPO therapy as documented in RA patients with ACD
Anisotropic Structure of the Order Parameter in FeSe0.45Te0.55 Revealed by Angle Resolved Specific Heat
The symmetry and structure of the superconducting gap in the Fe-based
superconductors are the central issue for understanding these novel materials.
So far the experimental data and theoretical models have been highly
controversial. Some experiments favor two or more constant or nearly-constant
gaps, others indicate strong anisotropy and yet others suggest gap zeros
("nodes"). Theoretical models also vary, suggesting that the absence or
presence of the nodes depends quantitatively on the model parameters. An
opinion that has gained substantial currency is that the gap structure, unlike
all other known superconductors, including cuprates, may be different in
different compounds within the same family. A unique method for addressing this
issue, one of the very few methods that are bulk and angle-resolved, calls for
measuring the electronic specific heat in a rotating magnetic field, as a
function of field orientation with respect to the crystallographic axes. In
this Communication we present the first such measurement for an Fe-based
high-Tc superconductor (FeBSC). We observed a fourfold oscillation of the
specific heat as a function of the in-plane magnetic field direction, which
allowed us to identify the locations of the gap minima (or nodes) on the Fermi
surface. Our results are consistent with the expectations of an extended s-wave
model with a significant gap anisotropy on the electron pockets and the gap
minima along the \Gamma M (or Fe-Fe bond) direction.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure
Dynamics and spectrum of the Cesà ro operator on C-infinity(R+)
[EN] The spectrum and point spectrum of the Cesaro averaging operator C acting on the Frechet space C-infinity(R+) of all C-infinity functions on the interval [0, infinity) are determined. We employ an approach via C-0-semigroup theory for linear operators. A spectral mapping theorem for the resolvent of a closed operator acting on a locally convex space is established; it constitutes a useful tool needed to establish the main result. The dynamical behaviour of C is also investigated.The research of the first two authors was partially supported by the projects MTM2013-43540-P, GVA Prometeo II/2013/013 and GVA ACOMP/2015/186 (Spain).Albanese, AA.; Bonet Solves, JA.; Ricker, WJ. (2016). Dynamics and spectrum of the Cesà ro operator on C-infinity(R+). Monatshefte für Mathematik. 181:267-283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00605-015-0863-zS267283181Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: Mean ergodic operators in Fréchet spaces. Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn. Math. 34, 401–436 (2009)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: Mean ergodic semigroups of operators. Rev. R. Acad. Cien. Serie A Mat. RACSAM 106, 299–319 (2012)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: Montel resolvents and uniformly mean ergodic semigroups of linear operators. Quaest. Math. 36, 253–290 (2013)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: Convergence of arithmetic means of operators in Fréchet spaces. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 401, 160–173 (2013)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: Uniform mean ergodicity of C 0 -semigroups in a class of in Fréchet spaces. Funct. Approx. Comment. Math. 50, 307–349 (2014)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: On the continuous Cesà ro operator in certain function spaces. Positivity 19, 659–679 (2015)Albanese, A.A., Bonet, J., Ricker, W.J.: The Cesà ro operator in the Fréchet spaces ℓ p + and L p - . Glasgow Math. J. (accepted)Arendt, W.: Gaussian estimates and interpolation of the spectrum in L p . Diff. Int. Equ. 7, 1153–1168 (1994)Bayart, F., Matheron, E.: Dynamics of linear operators. Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics, vol. 179. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2009)Boyd, D.W.: The spectrum of the Cesà ro operator. Acta Sci. Math. (Szeged) 29, 31–34 (1968)Grosse-Erdmann, K.G., Manguillot, A.P.: Linear chaos. Universitext, Springer Verlag, London (2011)Hille, E.: Remarks on ergodic theorems. Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 57, 246–269 (1945)Jarchow, H.: Locally convex spaces. Teubner, Stuttgart (1981)Komura, T.: Semigroups of operators in locally convex spaces. J. Funct. Anal. 2, 258–296 (1968)Lin, M.: On the uniform ergodic theorem. Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 43, 337–340 (1974)Malgrange, B.: Idéaux de fonctions différentiables et division des distributions. Distributions, Editions École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, pp. 1–21 (2003)Meise, R., Vogt, D.: Introduction to functional analysis. Oxford Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 2. The Clarendon Press. Oxford University Press, New York (1997)Seeley, R.T.: Extension of C ∞ functions defined in a half space. Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 15, 625–626 (1964)Siskakis, A.G.: Composition semigroups and the Cesà ro operator. J. London Math. Soc. (2) 36, 153–164 (1987)Yosida, K.: Functional analysis. Springer, New York, Berlin, Heidelberg (1980)Valdivia, M.: Topics in locally convex spaces. North-Holland Math. Stud. 67, North-Holland, Amsterdam (1982
A Discrete Time Model for the Analysis of Medium-Throughput C. elegans Growth Data
BACKGROUND: As part of a program to predict the toxicity of environmental agents on human health using alternative methods, several in vivo high- and medium-throughput assays are being developed that use C. elegans as a model organism. C. elegans-based toxicological assays utilize the COPAS Biosort flow sorting system that can rapidly measure size, extinction (EXT) and time-of-flight (TOF), of individual nematodes. The use of this technology requires the development of mathematical and statistical tools to properly analyze the large volumes of biological data. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Findings A Markov model was developed that predicts the growth of populations of C. elegans. The model was developed using observations from a 60 h growth study in which five cohorts of 300 nematodes each were aspirated and measured every 12 h. Frequency distributions of log(EXT) measurements that were made when loading C. elegans L1 larvae into 96 well plates (t = 0 h) were used by the model to predict the frequency distributions of the same set of nematodes when measured at 12 h intervals. The model prediction coincided well with the biological observations confirming the validity of the model. The model was also applied to log(TOF) measurements following an adaptation. The adaptation accounted for variability in TOF measurements associated with potential curling or shortening of the nematodes as they passed through the flow cell of the Biosort. By providing accurate estimates of frequencies of EXT or TOF measurements following varying growth periods, the model was able to estimate growth rates. Best model fits showed that C. elegans did not grow at a constant exponential rate. Growth was best described with three different rates. Microscopic observations indicated that the points where the growth rates changed corresponded to specific developmental events: the L1/L2 molt and the start of oogenesis in young adult C. elegans. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative analysis of COPAS Biosort measurements of C. elegans growth has been hampered by the lack of a mathematical model. In addition, extraneous matter and the inability to assign specific measurements to specific nematodes made it difficult to estimate growth rates. The present model addresses these problems through a population-based Markov model
Quantum Transduction of Telecommunications-band Single Photons from a Quantum Dot by Frequency Upconversion
The ability to transduce non-classical states of light from one wavelength to
another is a requirement for integrating disparate quantum systems that take
advantage of telecommunications-band photons for optical fiber transmission of
quantum information and near-visible, stationary systems for manipulation and
storage. In addition, transducing a single-photon source at 1.3 {\mu}m to
visible wavelengths for detection would be integral to linear optical quantum
computation due to the challenges of detection in the near-infrared. Recently,
transduction at single-photon power levels has been accomplished through
frequency upconversion, but it has yet to be demonstrated for a true
single-photon source. Here, we transduce the triggered single-photon emission
of a semiconductor quantum dot at 1.3 {\mu}m to 710 nm with a total detection
(internal conversion) efficiency of 21% (75%). We demonstrate that the 710 nm
signal maintains the quantum character of the 1.3 {\mu}m signal, yielding a
photon anti-bunched second-order intensity correlation, g^(2)(t), that shows
the optical field is composed of single photons with g^(2)(0) = 0.165 < 0.5.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
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