78 research outputs found
Diagnosis and Treatment of Tracheal or Bronchuotracheal Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma
Background and objective Adenoid cystic carcinoma is primary bronchopulmonary carcinoma with low malignancy, and 43 patients treated in the past 50 years in our hospital were retrospectively studied. The aim of this study is to discuss the clinical symptoms, pathologic characteristic and therapeutic method of primary tracheal or bronchuotracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma. Methods This study summarized total 43 patients of primary tracheal or bronchus adenoid cystic carcinoma treated in our hospital from Jan. 1958 to Dec. 2007. Among them, 40 patients were treated by surgical resection, and 3 patients were treated by fiberoptic bronchoscopeâs interventional treatment. Results The 1-yr, 3-yr, 5-yr survival rates of the 43 patients above were 100% (41/41), 89.5% (34/38), 87.1% (27/31), respectively. Conclusion Primary tracheal or bronchus adenoid cystic carcinoma are rare and low malignancy carcinoma. The clinical symptoms of them are not typical. The best treatment is early detection and taking measures of operation plus radiotherapy. The other palliative treatment is fiberoptic bronchoscopeâs interventional treatment
Oral microbiotaâhost interaction: the chief culprit of alveolar bone resorption
There exists a bidirectional relationship between oral health and general well-being, with an imbalance in oral symbiotic flora posing a threat to overall human health. Disruptions in the commensal flora can lead to oral diseases, while systemic illnesses can also impact the oral cavity, resulting in the development of oral diseases and disorders. Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, known as pathogenic bacteria associated with periodontitis, play a crucial role in linking periodontitis to accompanying systemic diseases. In periodontal tissues, these bacteria, along with their virulence factors, can excessively activate the host immune system through local diffusion, lymphatic circulation, and blood transmission. This immune response disruption contributes to an imbalance in osteoimmune mechanisms, alveolar bone resorption, and potential systemic inflammation. To restore local homeostasis, a deeper understanding of microbiotaâhost interactions and the immune network phenotype in local tissues is imperative. Defining the immune network phenotype in periodontal tissues offers a promising avenue for investigating the complex characteristics of oral plaque biofilms and exploring the potential relationship between periodontitis and associated systemic diseases. This review aims to provide an overview of the mechanisms underlying Porphyromonas gingivalis- and Fusobacterium nucleatum-induced alveolar bone resorption, as well as the immunophenotypes observed in host periodontal tissues during pathological conditions
Constraining Ultralight Dark Matter through an Accelerated Resonant Search
Experiments aimed at detecting ultralight dark matter typically rely on
resonant effects, which are sensitive to the dark matter mass that matches the
resonance frequency. In this study, we investigate the nucleon couplings of
ultralight axion dark matter using a magnetometer operating in a nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) mode. Our approach involves the use of a Ne
spin-based sensor, which features the lowest nuclear magnetic moment among
noble-gas spins. This configuration allows us to achieve an ultrahigh
sensitivity of 0.73 fT/Hz at around 5 Hz, corresponding to energy
resolution of approximately 1.5. Our analysis reveals that under certain
conditions it is beneficial to scan the frequency with steps significantly
larger than the resonance width. The analytical results are in agreement with
experimental data and the scan strategy is potentially applicable to other
resonant searches. Further, our study establishes stringent constraints on
axion-like particles (ALP) in the 4.5--15.5 Hz Compton-frequency range coupling
to neutrons and protons, improving on prior work by several-fold. Within a band
around 4.6--6.6 Hz and around 7.5 Hz, our laboratory findings surpass
astrophysical limits derived from neutron-star cooling. Hence, we demonstrate
an accelerated resonance search for ultralight dark matter, achieving an
approximately 30-fold increase in scanning step while maintaining competitive
sensitivity.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
(Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives
This interim report presents the ongoing progress of a collaborative project between the Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education (CTEY), UCL Institute of Education and the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University (BNU), which aims to (re)construct school readiness from Chinese children's perspectives. In this report, we first set out the context and rationale for carrying out this project (see Section 1). Then, we introduce the overarching research questions of this project, followed by a detailed account of the research design and the instruments for conducting research with young children (see Section 2). Subsequently, we report the pilot study we have conducted and present the preliminary findings (see Section 3). Finally, we outline the first round of fieldwork that has been carried out in seven early years settings of different backgrounds in Beijing (see Section 4), together with a timetable illustrating the next steps and upcoming milestones of this research project (see Section 5)
T-cell infiltration in the central nervous system and their association with brain calcification in Slc20a2-deficient mice
Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a rare neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by bilateral symmetric intracranial calcification along the microvessels or inside neuronal cells in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum. Slc20a2 homozygous (HO) knockout mice are the most commonly used model to simulate the brain calcification phenotype observed in human patients. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms related to brain calcification, particularly at the early stage much prior to the emergence of brain calcification, remain largely unknown. In this study, we quantified the central nervous system (CNS)-infiltrating T-cells of different age groups of Slc20a2-HO and matched wild type mice and found CD45+CD3+ T-cells to be significantly increased in the brain parenchyma, even in the pre-calcification stage of 1-month-old -HO mice. The accumulation of the CD3+ T-cells appeared to be associated with the severity of brain calcification. Further immunophenotyping revealed that the two main subtypes that had increased in the brain were CD3+ CD4â CD8â and CD3+ CD4+ T-cells. The expression of endothelial cell (EC) adhesion molecules increased, while that of tight and adherents junction proteins decreased, providing the molecular precondition for T-cell recruitment to ECs and paracellular migration into the brain. The fusion of lymphocytes and EC membranes and transcellular migration of CD3-related gold particles were captured, suggesting enhancement of transcytosis in the brain ECs. Exogenous fluorescent tracers and endogenous IgG and albumin leakage also revealed an impairment of transcellular pathway in the ECs. FTY720 significantly alleviated brain calcification, probably by reducing T-cell infiltration, modulating neuroinflammation and ossification process, and enhancing the autophagy and phagocytosis of CNS-resident immune cells. This study clearly demonstrated CNS-infiltrating T-cells to be associated with the progression of brain calcification. Impairment of bloodâbrain barrier (BBB) permeability, which was closely related to T-cell invasion into the CNS, could be explained by the BBB alterations of an increase in the paracellular and transcellular pathways of brain ECs. FTY720 was found to be a potential drug to protect patients from PFBC-related lesions in the future
PyPose v0.6: The Imperative Programming Interface for Robotics
PyPose is an open-source library for robot learning. It combines a
learning-based approach with physics-based optimization, which enables seamless
end-to-end robot learning. It has been used in many tasks due to its
meticulously designed application programming interface (API) and efficient
implementation. From its initial launch in early 2022, PyPose has experienced
significant enhancements, incorporating a wide variety of new features into its
platform. To satisfy the growing demand for understanding and utilizing the
library and reduce the learning curve of new users, we present the fundamental
design principle of the imperative programming interface, and showcase the
flexible usage of diverse functionalities and modules using an extremely simple
Dubins car example. We also demonstrate that the PyPose can be easily used to
navigate a real quadruped robot with a few lines of code
Contralateral delay activity as a marker of visual working memory capacity: a multi-site registered replication
Visual working memory (VWM) is a temporary storage system capable of retaining information that can be accessed and manipulated by higher cognitive processes, thereby facilitating a wide range of cognitive functions. Electroencephalography (EEG) is used to understand the neural correlates of VWM with high temporal precision, and one commonly used EEG measure is an event-related potential called the contralateral delay activity (CDA). In a landmark study by Vogel and Machizawa (2004), the authors found that the CDA amplitude increases with the number of items stored in VWM and plateaus around three to four items, which is thought to represent the typical adult working memory capacity. Critically, this study also showed that the increase in CDA amplitude between two-item and four-item arrays correlated with individual subjectsâ VWM performance. Although these results have been supported by subsequent studies, a recent study suggested that the number of subjects used in experiments investigating the CDA may not be sufficient to detect differences in set size and to provide a reliable account of the relationship between behaviorally measured VWM capacity and the CDA amplitude. To address this, the current study, as part of the #EEGManyLabs project, aims to conduct a multi-site replication of Vogel and Machizawa's (2004) seminal study on a large sample of participants, with a pre-registered analysis plan. Through this, our goal is to contribute to deepening our understanding of the neural correlates of visual working memory
Assessing the Effect of Tree Stand Composition on Urban Cooling Effect on the UBC Vancouver Campus : Using the 2021 Western North America Heat Wave
Rapid urbanization leads to the reduction of urban greenspaces, affecting the urban thermal environment and exacerbating the urban heat island effect. As urban forests are effective contributors to mitigating the urban heat island effect, understanding the composition of urban forests is important for assessing cooling effects. In response to growing concerns about the urban heat island effect, recent studies have used satellite imagery to investigate the cooling effects of urban forestsâ characteristics, as remotely sensed data are flexible in spatial and temporal resolutions. This study determined the spatial patterns of land surface temperatures and tree stand compositions, as well as examined the cooling effects of different tree stand compositions at the UBC Vancouver campus during the 2021 Western North America Heat Wave. This study was done by retrieving land surface temperatures from Landsat 8 images and using grid-based analysis to classify tree stand composition in the following classification schemes: coniferous, deciduous, and mixed wood. A linear mixed effects model was also conducted to quantify the relationship between land surface temperature differences and tree stand compositions throughout the Heat Wave. The results showed that coniferous stand composition was positively correlated, but deciduous stand composition was negatively correlated with land surface temperature differences. The findings indicated that expanding forested areas could lower land surface temperatures, and deciduous stand composition has the greatest cooling effectiveness. Overall, this study would provide valuable insights for UBC campus planners seeking to implement new strategies to enhance the resilience of the campus climate. Disclaimer: âUBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.âForestry, Faculty ofForest and Conservation Sciences, Department ofUnreviewedGraduat
M-MIMO Kartbaserad Positionering i TrÄdlösa NÀtverk
The next generation 5G systems has attracted more and more attention to the rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT). Positioning is an important research area in 5G mobile networks, especially in M-MIMO wireless networks. Because the base station needs to have a knowledge of the position of the user equipment, which can direct the signal to the user equipment while reducing interference and hence improve the user throughput. But the problem is that it is difficult to determine position when users are in NLOS scenarios. In the master thesis, we conclude the existing positioning method by the literature review, as well as get the inspiration to design our research environment. Through the MATLAB simulation, we restore the Madrid city three-dimensional environment, design and confirm a new method for the positioning by the AoA and the path power in NLOS scenarios. Our results indicate that the new positioning method demonstrates a nice performance of the accurate level even in the NLOS scenarios, in which the error of the position of the user equipment is within o.5 meters. Although the method is very sensitive to the strange signal paths, we can use the path with the strongest path power to overcome this problem. Meanwhile, the performance of our new positioning method is not impacted by the existence of the scattering loss.NĂ€sta generations 5G-system har fĂ„tt mer och mer uppmĂ€rksamhet Ă„t den snabba utvecklingen av informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT). Positionering Ă€r ett viktigt forskningsomrĂ„de i 5G-mobilnĂ€t, sĂ€rskilt i trĂ„dlösa M-MIMO-nĂ€tverk. Eftersom basstationen behöver ha kunskap om anvĂ€ndarutrustningens position, vilket kan rikta signalen till anvĂ€ndarutrustningen samtidigt som störningen minskas och dĂ€rmed förbĂ€ttra anvĂ€ndarens genomströmning. Men problemet Ă€r att det Ă€r svĂ„rt att bestĂ€mma positionen nĂ€r anvĂ€ndare Ă€r i NLOS-scenarier. I magisteruppsatsen avslutar vi den befintliga positioneringsmetoden genom litteraturöversikten och fĂ„r inspiration att designa vĂ„r forskningsmiljö. Genom MATLAB-simuleringen Ă„terstĂ€ller vi stadens tredimensionella miljö, designar och bekrĂ€ftar en ny metod för positionering av AoA och bankraften i NLOS-scenarier. VĂ„ra resultat indikerar att den nya positioneringsmetoden visar en bra prestanda för den exakta nivĂ„n Ă€ven i NLOS-scenarierna, dĂ€r felet i anvĂ€ndarutrustningens position ligger inom o.5 meter. Ăven om metoden Ă€r mycket kĂ€nslig för de konstiga signalvĂ€garna kan vi anvĂ€nda banan med den starkaste vĂ€gkraften för att övervinna detta problem. Samtidigt pĂ„verkas inte vĂ„r nya positioneringsmetod av spridningsförlusten
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