1,379 research outputs found
Meibomian Epithelioma of the Lower Eyelid in a Thoroughbred Horse
A 9-year old, castrated male, thoroughbred horse presented for a left lower eyelid mass with ocular signs of mucopurulent discharge, conjunctival hyperemia and ocular discomfort. On physical examination, there was no other abnormality. Surgically, the mass arising from the inner surface of left lower eyelid was excised and examined histopathologically. Microscopically, the eyelid mass exhibited neoplastic basaloid cells forming irregular cell masses of variable size separated by thin fibrous tissues. The basaloid cells showed mildly pleomorphic and undifferentiated appearances with prominent oval nuclei and scant cytoplasm. Poorly differentiated meibocytes were observed occasionally in the periphery regions of the cell masses suggesting the mass of lower eyelid originated from meibomian glands. Based on histopathological observation, the present case was diagnosed as an equine meibomian epithelioma in the lower eyelid. To the author’s knowledge, the present case is the first report of equine meibomian epithelioma in veterinary literatures
Renormalization group theory for percolation in time-varying networks
Motivated by multi-hop communication in unreliable wireless networks, we
present a percolation theory for time-varying networks. We develop a
renormalization group theory for a prototypical network on a regular grid,
where individual links switch stochastically between active and inactive
states. The question whether a given source node can communicate with a
destination node along paths of active links is equivalent to a percolation
problem. Our theory maps the temporal existence of multi-hop paths on an
effective two-state Markov process. We show analytically how this Markov
process converges towards a memory-less Bernoulli process as the hop distance
between source and destination node increases. Our work extends classical
percolation theory to the dynamic case and elucidates temporal correlations of
message losses. Quantification of temporal correlations has implications for
the design of wireless communication and control protocols, e.g. in
cyber-physical systems such as self-organized swarms of drones or smart traffic
networks.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Video-assisted thoracic surgery sleeve resection and bronchoplasty using 3D imaging system: its safety and efficacy
Background
Video-assisted thoracic surgery sleeve resection with bronchial anastomosis or bronchoplasty is a technically demanding procedure. Three-dimensional endoscopic surgery has been reported to be helpful in decreasing operation time and improving spatial perception with less surgical errors, but there have been rare reports about relatively difficult thoracoscopic procedures utilizing 3D thoracoscope. We performed this study to evaluate early clinical outcomes of thoracoscopic sleeve resection and bronchoplasty utilizing 3D thoracoscope.
Methods
Data from a total of 36 patients who underwent thoracoscopic sleeve lobectomy or bronchoplasty at our institution from December 2015 to October 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Three-port approach with one utility incision was used with a 10 mm, 30° three-dimensional thoracoscope. Twenty-three patients (81%) were male, and mean age was 65.9 ± 9.4 years. Fourteen patients (38.9%) underwent sleeve resection with bronchial anastomosis, 22 (61.1%) underwent wedge or simple bronchoplasty, and one patient received concomitant PA procedure. Bronchial anastomosis sites were not covered with viable tissue flaps.
Results
There was no (0%) suture needle injury from spatial misperception during bronchoplasty or sleeve anastomosis. There was no (0%) operative mortality. The pathologic report revealed squamous cell carcinoma (63.9%), adenocarcinoma (19.4%), carcinoid (6.9%), adenosquamous carcinoma (3.4%), and sarcomatoid carcinoma (2.8%). One (2.8%) late mortality was due to systemic recurrence of sarcomatoid carcinoma. There was no (0.0%) anastomotic failure. The mean number of dissected lymph nodes were 27.4 ± 13.2, and mean operation time was 216.8 ± 60.0 min. Median postoperative 24-h drain amount was 315 mL. Median chest tube days and hospital days were 4 and 6, respectively. Two patients (5.6%) had complications greater than Clavien-Dindo grade II—one case of ARDS, and the other case of a delayed bronchopleural fistula.
Conclusions
Thoracoscopic sleeve resection and bronchoplasty utilizing HD 3D thoracoscope is a safe and effective procedure with excellent early clinical outcomes. Further investigation for long-term outcomes will be needed
An Arrhythmia Classification-Guided Segmentation Model for Electrocardiogram Delineation
Accurate delineation of key waveforms in an ECG is a critical initial step in
extracting relevant features to support the diagnosis and treatment of heart
conditions. Although deep learning based methods using a segmentation model to
locate P, QRS and T waves have shown promising results, their ability to handle
signals exhibiting arrhythmia remains unclear. In this study, we propose a
novel approach that leverages a deep learning model to accurately delineate
signals with a wide range of arrhythmia. Our approach involves training a
segmentation model using a hybrid loss function that combines segmentation with
the task of arrhythmia classification. In addition, we use a diverse training
set containing various arrhythmia types, enabling our model to handle a wide
range of challenging cases. Experimental results show that our model accurately
delineates signals with a broad range of abnormal rhythm types, and the
combined training with classification guidance can effectively reduce false
positive P wave predictions, particularly during atrial fibrillation and atrial
flutter. Furthermore, our proposed method shows competitive performance with
previous delineation algorithms on the Lobachevsky University Database (LUDB)
L-Type Ca2+ Channel Inhibition Rescues the LPS-Induced Neuroinflammatory Response and Impairments in Spatial Memory and Dendritic Spine Formation
Ca2+ signaling is implicated in the transition between microglial surveillance and activation. Several L-type Ca2+ channel blockers (CCBs) have been shown to ameliorate neuroinflammation by modulating microglial activity. In this study, we examined the effects of the L-type CCB felodipine on LPS-mediated proinflammatory responses. We found that felodipine treatment significantly diminished LPS-evoked proinflammatory cytokine levels in BV2 microglial cells in an L-type Ca2+ channel-dependent manner. In addition, felodipine leads to the inhibition of TLR4/AKT/STAT3 signaling in BV2 microglial cells. We further examined the effects of felodipine on LPS-stimulated neuroinflammation in vivo and found that daily administration (3 or 7 days, i.p.) significantly reduced LPS-mediated gliosis and COX-2 and IL-1?? levels in C57BL/6 (wild-type) mice. Moreover, felodipine administration significantly reduced chronic neuroinflammation-induced spatial memory impairment, dendritic spine number, and microgliosis in C57BL/6 mice. Taken together, our results suggest that the L-type CCB felodipine could be repurposed for the treatment of neuroinflammation/cognitive function-associated diseases
Isolation and Characterization of a Defensin-Like Peptide (Coprisin) from the Dung Beetle, Copris tripartitus
The antibacterial activity of immune-related peptides, identified by a differential gene
expression analysis, was investigated to suggest novel antibacterial peptides. A cDNA encoding a defensin-like peptide, Coprisin, was isolated from bacteria-immunized dung beetle, Copris tripartitus, by using differential dot blot hybridization. Northern blot
analysis showed that Coprisin mRNA was up-regulated from 4 hours after bacteria injection and its expression level was reached a peak at 16 hours. The deduced amino acid sequence of Coprisin was composed of 80 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 8.6 kDa and a pI of 8.7. The amino acid sequence of mature Coprisin was found to be 79.1% and 67.4% identical to those of defensin-like peptides of Anomala cuprea and Allomyrina dichotoma, respectively. We also investigated active sequences of Coprisin by using amino acid modification. The result showed that the 9-mer peptide, LLCIALRKK-NH2, exhibited potent antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus
Rat Model of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B-Induced Rhinosinusitis
ObjectivesIt has been proposed that microbial persistence, superantigen (SA) production, and host T-cell response may be involved in the development of chronic rhinosinusitis. According to the SA hypothesis, a single intranasal application of SA such as staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) may induce chronic eosinophilic rhinosinusitis. This study aimed to develop a rat model of rhinosinusitis induced by intranasally applied SEB.MethodsForty µL of SEB (100 µg/mL) or phosphate buffered saline was applied intranasally through each naris in 4 week-old Sprague-Dawley test rats (N=36) and controls (N=16), respectively. Following sacrifice at 1, 5, 14, and 28 days, the obtained nasal cavity and sinuses were prepared for histologic investigation. The histologic sections were examined in a blind manner for the ratio of the sinus spaces occupied by inflammatory cell clusters and the number of inflammatory cells in the lamina propria.ResultsInfiltration of neutrophils in the lamina propria and appearance of neutrophil clusters in the sinus spaces were observed in the SEB-applied rats. The ratio of the sinus spaces occupied by neutrophil clusters and the number of neutrophils infiltrated in the lamina propria increased significantly at day 1 as compared with the control rats.ConclusionIntranasally applied SEB induces acute neutrophilic rhinosinusitis in rats. Eosinophilic inflammation was not demonstrated. The mere presence of SA in the nose does not necessarily induce SA-induced inflammation, as suggested by the SA hypothesis
Optical Shaping of Plasma Cavity for Controlled Laser Wakefield Acceleration
Laser wakefield accelerators rely on relativistically moving micron-sized
plasma cavities that provide extremely high electric field >100GV/m. Here, we
demonstrate transverse shaping of the plasma cavity to produce controlled
sub-GeV electron beams, adopting laser pulses with an axially rotatable
ellipse-shaped focal spot. We showed the control capability on electron
self-injection, charge, and transverse profile of the electron beam by rotating
the focal spot. We observed that the effect of the elliptical focal spot was
imprinted in the profiles of the electron beams and the electron energy
increased, as compared to the case of a circular focal spot. We performed 3D
particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations which reproduced the experimental results
and revealed dynamics of a new asymmetric self-injection process. This simple
scheme offers a novel control method on laser wakefield acceleration to produce
tailored electron beams and x-rays for various applications.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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