Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationIn this dissertation, we take a cohomological approach to study positive properties of higher codimensional subvarieties. First, we prove generalizations of Fujita vanishing theorems for $q$-ample divisors. We then apply them to study positivity of subvarieties with nef normal bundle in the sense of intersection theory. We also study the positivity of the cycle class of an ample curve or a curve with ample normal bundle. After Ottem's work on ample subschemes, we introduce the notion of a nef subscheme (resp. locally ample subscheme), which generalizes the notion of a subvariety with nef normal bundle (resp. ample normal bundle). We show that restriction of a pseudoeffective (resp. big) divisor to a nef subvariety is pseudoeffective (resp. big). We also show that ampleness, nefness and locally ampleness are transitive properties. We define the weakly movable cone as the cone generated by the pushforward of cycle classes of nef subvarieties via proper surjective maps. This cone contains the movable cone and shares similar intersection-theoretic properties with it, thanks to the aforementioned properties of nef subvarieties. On the other hand, we prove that if $Y\subset X$ is an ample subscheme of codimension $r$ and $D|_Y$ is $q$-ample, then $D$ is $(q+r)$-ample. This is analogous to a result proved by Demailly-Peternell-Schneider. We also show that the cycle class of an ample curve (resp. locally ample curve) lies in the interior of the movable cone of curves (cone of curves)

Motivic integration on Berkovich spaces over trivially valued fields

We define a motivic measure on the Berkovich analytification of an algebraic variety defined over a trivially valued field, and introduce motivic integration in this setting. The construction is geometric with a similar spirit as Kontsevich's original definition, and leads to the formulation of a functorial theory which mirrors, in this aspect, the approach of Cluckers and Loeser via constructibe motivic functions.Comment: 36 page

Grothendieck--Lefschetz for ample subvarieties

We establish a Grothendieck--Lefschetz theorem for smooth ample subvarieties of smooth projective varieties over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and, more generally, for smooth subvarieties whose complement has small cohomological dimension. A weaker statement is also proved in a more general context and in all characteristics. Several applications are included.Comment: v3: 18 pages, final version, to appear in Math.

Osteoprotective effects of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi aqueous extract in aged ovariectomized rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Fructus Ligustri Lucidi </it>(FLL) is a commonly used herb for treating bone disorders in Chinese medicine. The present study investigates the anti-osteoporotic activity of FLL aqueous extract in the model of postmenopausal bone loss in aged ovariectomized (OVX) female rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After eight weeks of treatment of FLL or water, the lumbar spine was scanned by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Effects of FLL water extract on osteogenic and adipogenic differentiations in rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were assessed by biochemical methods and staining.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>FLL aqueous extract significantly inhibited bone mineral density (BMD) loss in total, trabecular and cortical bones without affecting body weight and uterus wet weight. FLL extract significantly promoted osteogenesis and suppressed adipogenesis in MSCs as indicated by the elevated alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium deposition levels and decreased adipocyte number in a dose-dependent manner without cytotoxic effects. Real-time PCR analysis revealed significant increase of osteoprotegerin (OPG)-to-receptor activator for nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) mRNA, indicating a decrease in osteoclastogenesis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study demonstrates the osteoprotective effects of FLL aqueous extract on aged OVX rats, stimulation of osteogenesis, inhibition of adipogenesis and osteoclastogenesis in MSCs.</p

A Flexible-Frame-Rate Vision-Aided Inertial Object Tracking System for Mobile Devices

Real-time object pose estimation and tracking is challenging but essential for emerging augmented reality (AR) applications. In general, state-of-the-art methods address this problem using deep neural networks which indeed yield satisfactory results. Nevertheless, the high computational cost of these methods makes them unsuitable for mobile devices where real-world applications usually take place. In addition, head-mounted displays such as AR glasses require at least 90~FPS to avoid motion sickness, which further complicates the problem. We propose a flexible-frame-rate object pose estimation and tracking system for mobile devices. It is a monocular visual-inertial-based system with a client-server architecture. Inertial measurement unit (IMU) pose propagation is performed on the client side for high speed tracking, and RGB image-based 3D pose estimation is performed on the server side to obtain accurate poses, after which the pose is sent to the client side for visual-inertial fusion, where we propose a bias self-correction mechanism to reduce drift. We also propose a pose inspection algorithm to detect tracking failures and incorrect pose estimation. Connected by high-speed networking, our system supports flexible frame rates up to 120 FPS and guarantees high precision and real-time tracking on low-end devices. Both simulations and real world experiments show that our method achieves accurate and robust object tracking

Effectiveness of mechanical chest compression for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in an emergency department

AbstractBackgroundTo increase the chance of restoring spontaneous circulation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with high-quality chest compressions is needed. We hypothesized that, in a municipal hospital emergency department, the outcome in nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients treated with standard CPR followed by mechanical chest compression (MeCC) was not inferior to that followed by manual chest compression (MaCC). The purposes of the study were to test our hypothesis and investigate whether the use of MeCC decreased human power demands for CPR.MethodsA total of 455 consecutive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients of presumed cardiac etiology were divided into two groups according to the chest compressions they received (MaCC or MeCC) in this retrospective review study. Human power demand for CPR was described according to the Basic Life Support/Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support guidelines and the device handbook. The primary endpoint was recovery of spontaneous circulation during resuscitation, and the secondary endpoints were survival to hospital admission and medical human power demands.ResultsIn this study, recovery of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 33.3% of patients in the MeCC group and in 27.1% in the MaCC group (p = 0.154), and the percentages of patients who survived hospitalization were 22.2% and 17.6%, respectively (p = 0.229). A ratio of 2:4 for the human power demand for CPR between the groups was found. Independent predictors of survival to hospitalization were ventricular fibrillation/pulseless ventricular tachycardia as initial rhythm and recovery of spontaneous circulation.ConclusionNo difference was found in early survival between standard CPR performed with MeCC and that performed with MaCC. However, the use of the MeCC device appears to promote staff availability without waiving patient care in the human power-demanding emergency departments of Taiwan hospitals

Controle de arritmias atriais com período refratário atrial controlado por sensor e mudança automática de modo em pacientes portadores de marcapasso dupla-câmara com sensor de ventilaçao por minuto

Apesar de um longo período refratário atrial pós evento ventricular (PVARP) poder prevenir a ocorrência de taquicardias mediadas pelo marca passo e também o sincronismo inapropriado com arritmias atriais na estimulaçao dupla-câmara (DDD) a limitaçao da freqüência máxima será necessariamente comprometida. Testamos a possibilidade de utilizar um marca passo dupla-câmara com sensor de ventilaçao por minuto (DDDR) e com capacidade de encurtar o PVARP durante o exercício em 13 pacientes com bradicardia (PVARP em repouso = 463 ± 29 ms) a fim de prevenir a limitaçao prematura da freqüência máxima. O teste de esforço em esteira nos modos DDD e DDDR com este PVARP resultou em freqüências máximas de 98 bpm ± 8 bpm e 142 bpm ± 3 bpm respectivamente (P < 0,DDD1). Estes resultados foram obtidos graças à incompetência cronotrópica e à limitaçao da freqüência máxima no modo DDD, ambas contornadas pelo uso do sensor. Com a finalidade de simular arritmias atriais, foi aplicada estimulaçao na parede torácica por 30 segundos, a uma freqüência de 250 bpm e com uma sensibilidade atrial uni polar média de 0,82 mV. No modo DDD, ocorreu uma resposta ventricular irregular (as freqüências com um PVARP de 280 ms e 463 ms ± 29 ms foram respectivamente 92 bpm ± 5 bpm e 66 bpm ± 3 bpm (P < 0,DDD1). No modo DDDR, com um PVARP de 463 ms ± 29 ms, ocorreu uma estimulaçao ventricular regular a 53 bpm ± 2 bpm, devida à mudança de mDDD para VVIR, na presença de eventos repetitivos captados dentro do PVARP. Um paciente desenvolveu fibrilaçao atrial espontânea durante o seguimento, que foi corretamente identificada pelo algoritmo do marcapasso, resultando na mudança de modo de DDDR para WIR e na preservaçao da resposta em freqüência. Em conclusao, o PVARP controlado pelo sensor permite a utilizaçao de um PVARP mais longo durante o repouso, sem comprometer a freqüência máxima durante o exercício. Adicionalmente, ao oferecer em proteçao contra conduçao retrógrada, o PVARP longo e a mudança automática de mDDD também limitam a freqüência durante as arritmias atriais, permitindo uma resposta ventricular de acordo com a demanda fisiológica