Comparison of Investigation Modalities for Evaluation of Esophageal Peristaltic Function

We reviewed the recent literature concerning investigations of esophageal peristaltic function. The gold standard for the assessment of esophageal peristaltic function is manometry with pH monitoring. Even with this investigation modality, however, we are in fact doing no more than estimating esophageal peristaltic function from the manometry and pH results. With esophageal fluoroscopy and scintigraphy, where we observe esophageal motility, there are problems with radiation exposure and handling of radioactive agents that make widespread use difficult. In recent years, the development of multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII) manometry has allowed simultaneous measurement of intraesophageal pressure and assessment of esophageal peristalsis. Using MII it is also possible to distinguish whether gas or liquid is passing down the esophagus. When manometry is performed in conjunction with transnasal esophagogastroduodenoscopy, with this unique combination it is possible to measure the intraesophageal pressure while actually observing the swallowing motion at the same time. Assessment of esophageal peristaltic function is now moving from simple measurement of intraesophageal pressure to simultaneous impedance manometry and endoscopic observation of esophageal peristalsis itself

Quantum Hall Effect, Screening and Layer-Polarized Insulating States in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

We investigate electronic transport in dual-gated twisted bilayer graphene. Despite the sub-nanometer proximity between the layers, we identify independent contributions to the magnetoresistance from the graphene Landau level spectrum of each layer. We demonstrate that the filling factor of each layer can be independently controlled via the dual gates, which we use to induce Landau level crossings between the layers. By analyzing the gate dependence of the Landau level crossings, we characterize the finite inter-layer screening and extract the capacitance between the atomically-spaced layers. At zero filling factor, we observe magnetic and displacement field dependent insulating states, which indicate the presence of counter-propagating edge states with inter-layer coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Tunneling in graphene-topological insulator hybrid devices

Hybrid graphene-topological insulator (TI) devices were fabricated using a mechanical transfer method and studied via electronic transport. Devices consisting of bilayer graphene (BLG) under the TI Bi$_2$Se$_3$ exhibit differential conductance characteristics which appear to be dominated by tunneling, roughly reproducing the Bi$_2$Se$_3$ density of states. Similar results were obtained for BLG on top of Bi$_2$Se$_3$, with 10-fold greater conductance consistent with a larger contact area due to better surface conformity. The devices further show evidence of inelastic phonon-assisted tunneling processes involving both Bi$_2$Se$_3$ and graphene phonons. These processes favor phonons which compensate for momentum mismatch between the TI $\Gamma$ and graphene $K, K'$ points. Finally, the utility of these tunnel junctions is demonstrated on a density-tunable BLG device, where the charge-neutrality point is traced along the energy-density trajectory. This trajectory is used as a measure of the ground-state density of states

Performance Evaluation of The Speaker-Independent HMM-based Speech Synthesis System "HTS-2007" for the Blizzard Challenge 2007

This paper describes a speaker-independent/adaptive HMM-based speech synthesis system developed for the Blizzard Challenge 2007. The new system, named HTS-2007, employs speaker adaptation (CSMAPLR+MAP), feature-space adaptive training, mixed-gender modeling, and full-covariance modeling using CSMAPLR transforms, in addition to several other techniques that have proved effective in our previous systems. Subjective evaluation results show that the new system generates significantly better quality synthetic speech than that of speaker-dependent approaches with realistic amounts of speech data, and that it bears comparison with speaker-dependent approaches even when large amounts of speech data are available

The role of trefoil factor family in apparently healthy subjects administrated gastroprotective agents for the primary prevention of gastrointestinal injuries from low-dose acetylsalicylic acid: a preliminary study

It is well-known that acetylsalicylic acid induces gastrointestinal complication. Recently, trefoil factor family has been reported as a mucosal protective factor. We focused on trefoil factor family as one of defensive system for gastrointestinal injuries. The aim of this trial was to evaluate trefoil factor family levels in the serum of healthy subjects with low-dose acetylsalicylic acid. Low-dose acetylsalicylic acid with placebo or proton pump inhibitor or rebamipide were administered in 30 healthy subjects. Transnasal endoscopy was performed at 0, 24 h, 3 and 7 day. Changing of trefoil factor family (1,2,3) and numbers of gastric injuries were evaluated. The numbers of gastric injuries were significantly increased in the placebo group at 3 and 7 days. Injuries in the proton pump inhibitor group were not induced, in the rebamipide group were slightly induced. Trefoil factor family level in the placebo group were decreased in 3 and 7 days compared with prior to starting the trial. Trefoil factor family may have an important association with acetylsalicylic acid-induced gastrointestinal damage. Proton pump inhibitor and rebamipide prevented low-dose acetylsalicylic acid-induced gastrointestinal complications compared with the placebo group

Evx2-Hoxd13 Intergenic Region Restricts Enhancer Association to Hoxd13 Promoter

Expression of Hox genes is tightly regulated in spatial and temporal domains. Evx2 is located next to Hoxd13 within 8 kb on the opposite DNA strand. Early in development, the pattern of Hoxd13 expression resembles that of Evx2 in limb and genital buds. After 10 dpc, however, Evx2 begins to be expressed in CNS as well. We analyzed the region responsible for these differences using ES cell techniques, and found that the intergenic region between Evx2 and Hoxd13 behaves as a boundary element that functions differentially in space and time, specifically in the development of limbs, genital bud, and brain. This boundary element comprises a large sequence spanning several kilobases that can be divided into at least two units: a constitutive boundary element, which blocks transcription regulatory influences from the chromosomal environment, and a regulatory element, which controls the function of the constitutive boundary element in time and space