Nasopharynx evaluation in children of unilateral cleft palate patients and normal with cone beam computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the morphological characteristics of the nasopharynx in unilateral Cleft lip/palate (CL/P) children and non-cleft children using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS: A retrospective study consisted of 54 patients, of which 27 patients were unilateral CL/P, remaining 27 patients have no CL/P. Eustachian tubes orifice (ET), Rosenmuller fossa (RF) depth, presence of pharyngeal bursa (PB), the distance of posterior nasal spine (PNS)-pharynx posterior wall were quantitatively evaluated. RESULTS: The main effect of the CL/P groups was found to be effective on RF depth-right (p < 0.001) and RF depth-left (p < 0.001). The interaction effect of gender and CL/P groups was not influential on measurements. The cleft-side main effect was found to be effective on RF depth-left (p < 0.001) and RF depth-right (p  =  0002). There was no statistically significant relationship between CL/P groups and the presence of bursa pharyngea. CONCLUSIONS: Because it is the most common site of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), the anatomy of the nasopharynx should be well known in the early diagnosis of NPC

Spectral renormalization group theory on networks

Discrete amorphous materials are best described in terms of arbitrary networks which can be embedded in three dimensional space. Investigating the thermodynamic equilibrium as well as non-equilibrium behavior of such materials around second order phase transitions call for special techniques. We set up a renormalization group scheme by expanding an arbitrary scalar field living on the nodes of an arbitrary network, in terms of the eigenvectors of the normalized graph Laplacian. The renormalization transformation involves, as usual, the integration over the more "rapidly varying" components of the field, corresponding to eigenvectors with larger eigenvalues, and then rescaling. The critical exponents depend on the particular graph through the spectral density of the eigenvalues.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, presented at the Continuum Models and Discrete Systems (CMDS-12), 21-25 Feb 2011, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, Indi

Brucella bacteremia in patients with acute leukemia: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Brucellosis may cause serious infections in healthy individuals living in countries that are endemic for the infection. However, reports of brucella infections in immunocompromised hosts are relatively rare.</p> <p>Case Presentations</p> <p>Reported here are two patients with acute leukemia who developed <it>Brucella melitensis </it>bacteremia during their follow up at the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh. The first patient developed <it>B. melitensis </it>bacteremia during the transformation of his myelodysplasia into acute myeloid leukemia. The second patient developed <it>B. melitensis </it>bacteremia while his acute lymphoblastic leukemia was under control. Interestingly, he presented with acute cholecystitis during the brucella sepsis. Both brucella infections were associated with a marked reduction in the hematological parameters in addition to other complications. The bacteremic episodes were successfully treated with netilmicin, doxycycline and ciprofloxacin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Brucellosis can cause systemic infections, complicated bacteremia and serious morbidity in patients with acute leukemia living in endemic areas. These infections may occur at the presentation of the leukemia or even when the leukemia is in remission. Nevertheless, the early diagnosis of brucellosis and the administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy for sufficient duration usually improves the outcome in these immunocompromised patients.</p

Preliminary analysis of EUSO - TA data

The EUSO{TA detector is a pathfinder for the JEM-EUSO project and is currently installed in Black Rock Mesa (Utah) on the site of the Telescope Array fuorescence detectors. Aim of this experiment is to validate the observation principle of JEM-EUSO on air showers measured from ground. The experiment gets data in coincidence with the TA triggers to increase the likelihood of cosmic ray detection. In this framework the collaboration is also testing the detector response with respect to several test events from lasers and LED flashers. Moreover, another aim of the project is the validation of the stability of the data acquisition chain in real sky condition and the optimization of the trigger scheme for the rejection of background. Data analysis is ongoing to identify cosmic ray events in coincidence with the TA detector. In this contribution we will show the response of the EUSO-TA detector to all the different typologies of events and we willshow some preliminary results on the trigger optimization performed on such data

The Roadmap to the POEMMA mission

The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) is designed to observe ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and cosmic neutrinos from space with sensitivity over the full celestial sky. Developed as a NASA Astrophysics Probe-class mission, POEMMA consists of two identical telescopes orbiting the Earth in a loose formation designed to observe extensive air showers (EAS) via air fluorescence and Cherenkov emissions. UHECRs and UHE neutrinos above 20 EeV are observed with the stereo fluorescence technique, while tau neutrinos above 20 PeV are observed via the optical Cherenkov signals produced by up-going EAS generated by the decay of Earth-emerging tau-leptons. The POEMMA satellites are designed to quickly re-orientate to follow up transient cosmic neutrino candidate sources and obtain unparalleled neutrino flux sensitivity. Both observation techniques and the instrument design are being validated by current and upcoming missions, such as Mini-EUSO and EUSO-SPB as part of the JEM-EUSO program, and the Terzina instrument onboard the NUSES SmallSat mission. We discuss the POEMMA science performance and the current roadmap to the POEMMA mission

Prospects for Cross-correlations of UHECR Events with Astrophysical Sources with Upcoming Space-based Experiments

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are the messengers of the most extreme physics in the cosmos; however, efforts to identify their origins have thus far been thwarted by the fact that they don’t point back to their sources. Using statistical studies cross-correlating UHECR arrival directions with astrophysical catalogs, the ground-based Pierre Auger Observatory has reported hints of a correlation with nearby starburst galaxies, as well as lower-significance correlations with other classes of astrophysical sources. Space-based UHECR experiments, such as POEMMA and ZAP, will monitor large interaction volumes on the Earth or the Moon. Within a few years of mission operation time, both missions will achieve unprecedented exposures at energies above 40 EeV across the entire sky. We present studies of the cross-correlation between UHECR event arrival directions and astrophysical catalogs as motivated by expectations for the detector performance for POEMMA and ZAP. We find that both POEMMA and ZAP will achieve 5σ discovery reach for many plausible astrophysical scenarios

SecA, a remarkable nanomachine

Biological cells harbor a variety of molecular machines that carry out mechanical work at the nanoscale. One of these nanomachines is the bacterial motor protein SecA which translocates secretory proteins through the protein-conducting membrane channel SecYEG. SecA converts chemically stored energy in the form of ATP into a mechanical force to drive polypeptide transport through SecYEG and across the cytoplasmic membrane. In order to accommodate a translocating polypeptide chain and to release transmembrane segments of membrane proteins into the lipid bilayer, SecYEG needs to open its central channel and the lateral gate. Recent crystal structures provide a detailed insight into the rearrangements required for channel opening. Here, we review our current understanding of the mode of operation of the SecA motor protein in concert with the dynamic SecYEG channel. We conclude with a new model for SecA-mediated protein translocation that unifies previous conflicting data

Proteostasis Dysregulation in Pancreatic Cancer

The most common form of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), has a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Radical surgical resection, in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy, provides the best option for long-term patient survival. However, only approximately 20% of patients are resectable at the time of diagnosis, due to locally advanced or metastatic disease. There is an urgent need for the identification of new, specific, and more sensitive biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction to improve the treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients. Dysregulation of proteostasis is linked to many pathophysiological conditions, including various types of cancer. In this review, we report on findings relating to the main cellular protein degradation systems, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy, in pancreatic cancer. The expression of several components of the proteolytic network, including E3 ubiquitinligases and deubiquitinating enzymes, are dysregulated in PDAC, which accounts for approximately 90% of all pancreatic malignancies. In the future, a deeper understanding of the emerging role of proteostasis in pancreatic cancer has the potential to provide clinically relevant biomarkers and new strategies for combinatorial therapeutic options to better help treat the patients.Peer reviewe