806 research outputs found
Cholangiographic Features in the Diagnosis and Management of Obstructive Icteric Type Hepatocellular Carcinoma
In 11 years and 3 months, 2037 patients with HCC
were seen and 48 patients (2.4%) were diagnosed to
have obstructive icteric type HCC. Five patients
were terminally ill and were not investigated further.
Forty three patients were initially investigated
by endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) or
percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram (PTC) and
classified as having obstructive icteric type 1, 2, or 3
HCC based on the cholangiographic findings. The
obstruction in type 1 HCC was due to intraluminal
tumour casts and/or tumour fragments obstructing
the hepatic ductal confluence or common bile duct,
while intraluminal blood clots, from haemobilia,
filling the biliary tree was the cause in type 2 HCC.
The pathology in type 3 HCC was extraluminal
obstruction by extensive tumour encasement of the
intra–hepatic biliary ductal system and/or extrinsic
compression of the hepatic and common bile ducts
by tumour(s) and/or malignant lymph nodes. At
the initial ERC/PTC, 10 patients (5 resected, 50%)
had obstructive icteric type 1 and 23 patients (0 resected)
had obstructive icteric type 3 HCC. Of the 10
patients initially classified according to cholangiography
to have obstructive icteric type 2 HCC,
subsequent investigations revealed that 6 patients
had type 1 HCC (4 resectable, 67%) and 4 patients
had type 3 HCC (0 resectable). The classification of
the obstructive icteric type HCC into types 1, 2, and
3, based on the initial cholangiographic appearances
has simplified and rationalized our management
strategy for this condition
Multi-Qubit Gates in Arrays Coupled by 'Always On' Interactions
Recently there has been interest in the idea of quantum computing without
control of the physical interactions between component qubits. This is highly
appealing since the 'switching' of such interactions is a principal difficulty
in creating real devices. It has been established that one can employ 'always
on' interactions in a one-dimensional Heisenberg chain, provided that one can
tune the Zeeman energies of the individual (pseudo-)spins. It is important to
generalize this scheme to higher dimensional networks, since a real device
would probably be of that kind. Such generalisations have been proposed, but
only at the severe cost that the efficiency of qubit storage must *fall*. Here
we propose the use of multi-qubit gates within such higher-dimensional arrays,
finding a novel three-qubit gate that can in fact increase the efficiency
beyond the linear model. Thus we are able to propose higher dimensional
networks that can constitute a better embodiment of the 'always on' concept - a
substantial step toward bringing this novel concept to full fruition.Comment: 20 pages in preprint format, inc. 3 figures. This version has fixed
typos and printer-friendly figures, and is to appear in NJ
Relaxation effect of abacavir on rat basilar arteries
Background
The use of abacavir has been linked with increased cardiovascular risk in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection; however, the mechanism involved remains unclear. We hypothesize that abacavir may impair endothelial function. In addition, based on the structural similarity between abacavir and adenosine, we propose that abacavir may affect vascular contractility through endogenous adenosine release or adenosine receptors in blood vessels.
Methods
The relaxation effect of abacavir on rat basilar arteries was studied using the myograph technique. Cyclic GMP and AMP levels were measured by immunoassay. The effects of abacavir on nucleoside transporters were studied using radiolabeled nucleoside uptake experiments. Ecto-5′ nucleotidase activity was determined by measuring the generation of inorganic phosphate using adenosine monophosphate as the substrate.
Results
Abacavir induced the relaxation of rat basilar arteries in a concentration-dependent manner. This relaxation was abolished when endothelium was removed. In addition, the relaxation was diminished by the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, L-NAME, the guanylyl cyclase inhibitor, ODQ, and the protein kinase G inhibitor, KT5820. Abacavir also increased the cGMP level in rat basilar arteries. Abacavir-induced relaxation was also abolished by adenosine A2 receptor blockers. However, abacavir had no effect on ecto-5’ nucleotidase and nucleoside transporters. Short-term and long-term treatment of abacavir did not affect acetylcholine-induced relaxation in rat basilar arteries.
Conclusion
Abacavir induces acute endothelium-dependent relaxation of rat basilar arteries, probably through the activation of adenosine A2 receptors in endothelial cells, which subsequently leads to the release of nitric oxide, resulting in activation of the cyclic guanosine monophosphate/protein kinase G-dependent pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells. It is speculated that abacavir-induced cardiovascular risk may not be related to endothelial dysfunction as abacavir does not impair relaxation of blood vessels. The most likely explanation of increased cardiovascular risk may be increased platelet aggregation as suggested by other studies
Dynamic instrumented palpation (DIP) - a new method for soft tissue quality assessment; application to engineered mechanical phantom materials
Holes in the t-J_z model: a thorough study
The t-J_z model is the strongly anisotropic limit of the t-J model which
captures some general properties of the doped antiferromagnets (AF). The
absence of spin fluctuations simplifies the analytical treatment of hole motion
in an AF background and allows us to calculate the single- and two-hole spectra
with high accuracy using regular diagram technique combined with real-space
approach. At the same time, numerical studies of this model via exact
diagonalization (ED) on small clusters show negligible finite size effects for
a number of quantities, thus allowing a direct comparison between analytical
and numerical results. Both approaches demonstrate that the holes have tendency
to pair in the p- and d-wave channels at realistic values of t/J. The
interactions leading to pairing and effects selecting p and d waves are
thoroughly investigated. The role of transverse spin fluctuations is considered
using perturbation theory. Based on the results of the present study, we
discuss the pairing problem in the realistic t-J-like model. Possible
implications for preformed pairs formation and phase separation are drawn.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure
Parasites lacking the micronemal protein MIC2 are deficient in surface attachment and host cell egress, but remain virulent in vivo
Background: Micronemal proteins of the thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) family are believed to play essential roles during gliding motility and host cell invasion by apicomplexan parasites, and currently represent major vaccine candidates against Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria. However, recent evidence suggests that they play multiple and different roles than previously assumed. Here, we analyse a null mutant for MIC2, the TRAP homolog in Toxoplasma gondii. Methods: We performed a careful analysis of parasite motility in a 3D-environment, attachment under shear stress conditions, host cell invasion and in vivo virulence. Results: We verified the role of MIC2 in efficient surface attachment, but were unable to identify any direct function of MIC2 in sustaining gliding motility or host cell invasion once initiated. Furthermore, we find that deletion of mic2 causes a slightly delayed infection in vivo, leading only to mild attenuation of virulence; like with wildtype parasites, inoculation with even low numbers of mic2 KO parasites causes lethal disease in mice. However, deletion of mic2 causes delayed host cell egress in vitro, possibly via disrupted signal transduction pathways. Conclusions: We confirm a critical role of MIC2 in parasite attachment to the surface, leading to reduced parasite motility and host cell invasion. However, MIC2 appears to not be critical for gliding motility or host cell invasion, since parasite speed during these processes is unaffected. Furthermore, deletion of MIC2 leads only to slight attenuation of the parasite
High pathogen prevalence in an amphibian and reptile assemblage at a site with risk factors for dispersal in Galicia, Spain
Ranaviruses are agents of disease, mortality and population declines in ectothermic vertebrates and emergences have been repeatedly linked to human activities. Ranaviruses in the
common midwife toad ranavirus lineage are emerging in Europe. They are known to be
severe multi-host pathogens of amphibians and can also cause disease in reptiles. Recurrent outbreaks of ranavirus disease and mortality affecting three species have occurred at a
small reservoir in north-west Spain but no data were available on occurrence of the pathogen in the other amphibian and reptile species present or at adjacent sites. We sampled
nine species of amphibians and reptiles at the reservoir and nearby sites and screened for ranavirus presence using molecular methods. Our results show infection with ranavirus in all nine species, including first reports for Hyla molleri, Pelophylax perezi, Rana iberica, and Podarcis bocagei. We detected ranavirus in all four local sites and confirmed mass mortality incidents involving Lissotriton boscai and Triturus marmoratus were ongoing. The reservoir regularly hosts water sports tournaments and the risks of ranavirus dispersal through the translocation of contaminated equipment are discussed
Generalized Flow and Determinism in Measurement-based Quantum Computation
We extend the notion of quantum information flow defined by Danos and Kashefi
for the one-way model and present a necessary and sufficient condition for the
deterministic computation in this model. The generalized flow also applied in
the extended model with measurements in the X-Y, X-Z and Y-Z planes. We apply
both measurement calculus and the stabiliser formalism to derive our main
theorem which for the first time gives a full characterization of the
deterministic computation in the one-way model. We present several examples to
show how our result improves over the traditional notion of flow, such as
geometries (entanglement graph with input and output) with no flow but having
generalized flow and we discuss how they lead to an optimal implementation of
the unitaries. More importantly one can also obtain a better quantum
computation depth with the generalized flow rather than with flow. We believe
our characterization result is particularly essential for the study of the
algorithms and complexity in the one-way model.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
Generalized Flow and Determinism in Measurement-based Quantum Computation
We extend the notion of quantum information flow defined by Danos and Kashefi
for the one-way model and present a necessary and sufficient condition for the
deterministic computation in this model. The generalized flow also applied in
the extended model with measurements in the X-Y, X-Z and Y-Z planes. We apply
both measurement calculus and the stabiliser formalism to derive our main
theorem which for the first time gives a full characterization of the
deterministic computation in the one-way model. We present several examples to
show how our result improves over the traditional notion of flow, such as
geometries (entanglement graph with input and output) with no flow but having
generalized flow and we discuss how they lead to an optimal implementation of
the unitaries. More importantly one can also obtain a better quantum
computation depth with the generalized flow rather than with flow. We believe
our characterization result is particularly essential for the study of the
algorithms and complexity in the one-way model.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
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