1,724 research outputs found
EBUS-GS and VBN for GGO lesions
No full textBackground: Endobronchial ultrasonography with guide sheath (EBUS-GS) could be useful for diagnosing ground-glass opacity (GGO) predominant-type lesions in the peripheral lung. Furthermore, several studies have reported that transbronchial biopsy using EBUS-GS and virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN) was safe and effective for diagnosing small peripheral lung lesions. Our objectives were to diagnose solitary peripheral GGO predominant-type lesions by transbronchial biopsy using EBUS-GS and VBN under radiographic fluoroscopic guidance, and to evaluate the clinical factors associated with diagnostic yield. Methods: The medical records of 169 patients with GGO predominant-type lesions who underwent transbronchial biopsy using EBUS-GS and VBN under radiographic fluoroscopic guidance were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Endobronchial ultrasonography images could be obtained for 156 (92%) of 169 GGO predominant-type lesions, and 116 (69%) were successfully diagnosed by this method (20 of 31 pure GGO lesions [65%]; 96 of 138 mixed GGO predominant-type lesions [70%]). The mean size of diagnosed lesions was significantly larger than that of nondiagnosed lesions (22 mm versus 18 mm, p < 0.01). Regarding diagnostic yield based on computed tomography sign, cases with presence of a bronchus leading directly to a lesion had significantly higher diagnostic yield than the other lesions (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The addition of VBN to EBUS-GS could be useful in clinical practice for diagnosing GGO predominant-type lesions in the peripheral lung
The Multifaceted Effects of Guggulsterone as an Anti-Obesity Agent
No full textObesity is associated with pathological expansion of white adipose tissue (WAT) and is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this study, we explored the multifaceted effects of guggulsterone (GS), a well-studied phytosterol for its cholesterol lowering effects, as an anti-obesity agent. We investigated the effects of GS on adipogenesis, lipolysis and beiging using 3T3-L1 murine adipocyte cell line. Identification of clusters of brown adipocyte-like cells in white adipose tissue depots indicate a mechanism by which WAT acquires brown adipose tissue (BAT)-like properties, generally referred to as \u27beiging\u27. Beiging of WAT increases energy expenditure and is gaining attention as a novel therapeutic approach for obesity. We demonstrate the three-way antiobesity effects of GS in in-vitro cell culture model. Firstly, GS inhibited the differentiation of preadipocytes to mature adipocytes contributing to the overall decrease in adipogenesis. Secondly, GS promoted lipolysis in mature adipocytes as evidenced by the increase in free glycerol release with GS treatment. Finally, we have demonstrated the effects of GS on upregulating beige specific markers in mature adipocytes like uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and T-box transcription factor 1 (Tbx1) and thermogenic markers like peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC1α) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Additionally, GS also increased mitochondrial biogenesis, another indicator for the induction of beiging. GS is structurally similar to bile acids and we hypothesize that GS-induced effects on adipocytes are mediated through, TGR5, a bile acid receptor. Our results indicate that GS increases TGR5 and type 2 deiodinase (DIO2), a downstream marker of TGR5 activation, expression in mature adipocytes. We also used a TGR5 agonist INT-777 and observed GS in combination with INT-777 increases the expression of UCP1. Together, this data suggests that guggulsterone may exert anti-obesity effects not only by decreasing adipogenesis and promoting lipolysis in WAT, but also by inducing white to beige transdifferentiation thereby increasing thermogenesis and promoting weight loss
Rigorous results on the strongly correlated electron systems by the spin-reflection-positivity method
No full textIn this talk, we shall briefly review some results on the strongly correlated electron systems, derived recently by applying Lieb's spin-reflection-positivity method. To explain the basic ideas of this method to a wide audience, we emphasize the important role played by Marshall's rule in studying the many-body systems.Physics, AppliedPhysics, Condensed MatterPhysics, MathematicalSCI(E)CPCI-S(ISTP)
Antiferromagnetic correlation in the half-filled strongly correlated electron models at nonzero temperature: A rigorous result
No full textAs an extension of our previous rigorous investigation on the spin correlations in the ground states of the half-filled Hubbard model and the periodic Anderson model [G. S. Tian, Phys. Rev. B 50, 6246 (1994)], in the present paper we study the behavior of these correlation functions at finite temperature. We show rigorously that, at any T not equal0, the predominant spin correlations in these systems are antiferromagnetic. Furthermore, based on this result, we also show that a quasi-one (or two)-dimensional itinerant electron ferrimagnet must have a gapless branch of ferromagnetic excitations. This conclusion is consistent with the previous results derived by the spin-wave theory.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000169283000058&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Physics, Condensed MatterSCI(E)10ARTICLE22null6
A 1-GS/s 6–8-b Cryo-CMOS SAR ADC for Quantum Computing
No full textThis article presents a two-times interleaved, loop-unrolled SAR analog-to-digital converter (ADC) operational from 300 down to 4.2 K. The 6-8-bit resolution and the sampling speed up to 1 GS/s are targeted at digitizing the multi-channel frequency-multiplexed input in a spin-qubit reflectometry readout for quantum computing. To optimize the circuit for the altered device behavior at cryogenic temperatures, a modified common-mode switching scheme is adopted as well as a flexible calibration. The design is implemented in 40-nm CMOS technology and achieves 36.2-dB signal to noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) for Nyquist input at 4.2 K while maintaining a Walden figure of merit (FOM textsubscript W) of 200 pJ/conv-step (for a 10.8-mW power consumption), including the clock receiver, and 15 pJ/conv-step (for a 0.8-mW power consumption) for just the core ADC. With these specifications, the ADC can support the simultaneous readout of 20 qubit channels with a power consumption of 0.5 mW/qubit, thus advancing toward the full integration of the cryogenic readout for future large-scale quantum processors.QCD/Sebastiano LabElectronicsQuantum Circuit Architectures and Technolog
Development of a numerical methodology for flowforming process simulation of complex geometry tubes
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2017 Author(s).Nowadays, the incremental flowforming process is widely explored because of the usage of complex tubular products is increasing due to the light-weighting trend and the use of expensive materials. The enhanced mechanical properties of finished parts combined with the process efficiency in terms of raw material and energy consumption are the key factors for its competitiveness and sustainability, which is consistent with EU industry policy. As a promising technology, additional steps for extending the existing flowforming limits in the production of tubular products are required. The objective of the present research is to further expand the current state of the art regarding limitations on tube thickness and diameter, exploring the feasibility to flowform complex geometries as tubes of elevated thickness of up to 60 mm. In this study, the analysis of the backward flowforming process of 7075 aluminum tubular preform is carried out to define the optimum process parameters, machine requirements and tooling geometry as demonstration case. Numerical simulation studies on flowforming of thin walled tubular components have been considered to increase the knowledge of the technology. The calculation of the rotational movement of the mesh preform, the high ratio thickness/length and the thermomechanical condition increase significantly the computation time of the numerical simulation model. This means that efficient and reliable tools able to predict the forming loads and the quality of flowformed thick tubes are not available. This paper aims to overcome this situation by developing a simulation methodology based on FEM simulation code including new strategies. Material characterization has also been performed through tensile test to able to design the process. Finally, to check the reliability of the model, flowforming tests at industrial environment have been developed.Peer reviewe
Mitigating Abiotic Stress Through the Application of Genomic and Breeding Strategies in Sorghum
No full textResistance to environmental stress, as well as enhanced yield performance and
stability, and grain and stem qualities, has been improved in sorghum to be
used as food, feed, and biomass for energy production. Transcriptome research
on sorghum response to drought stress, temperature extremes, salinity, and
heavy metals revealed the enrichment of core genes involved in basic and critical
functions (such as reproductive development, leaf and seed development,
cell differentiation, and chloroplast organization), as well as in dispensable
genes involved in adaptive biological processes (such as secondary metabolic
processes, RNA processing, and amino acid transport). The powerful
approaches to uncover the complex traits of abiotic stress responses using
genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are genomewide
association study (GWAS), quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping, and
genomic selection (GS). In addition, the comparative genomics analysis is
adopted to explore the genomic variation between sweet and grain sorghums.
The genome-editing technologies and the mutant libraries provide efficient
resources to identify mutations allowing the rapid introduction into elite germplasm.
The development of next generation and third-generation sequencing
technologies as well as high-throughput phenomics will allow more effective
exploitation of large-scale breeding populations
Optimizing Support Vector Machines with ISBA-A-gs Land Surface Variables as a Surrogate Model to Simulate ASCAT Derived Parameters
No full textThe TU-Wien developed a soil moisture retrieval algorithm that uses the incidence angle dependence of backscatter to obtain soil moisture estimates (Wagner et al., 1999). The core of this algorithm is a second order Taylor expansion with which the backscatter is normalized at a reference angle. Studies have shown that the first and second order derivative within this Taylor expansion, known as slope and curvature, are somehow related to the wet biomass and structure of vegetation. The general approach to forward model satellite observations with land surface variables in a data assimilation framework is through a radiative transfer model (Albergel et al., 2017). However, this requires plenty of assumptions about the vegetation canopy (such as stem height, shape, size, orientation etc.) and is therefore relatively inefficient for understanding the impact of soil moisture and vegetation dynamics on backscatter on a large scale. This study investigates the possibility of using support vector machines as a surrogate model instead of a radiative transfer model to link the TU-Wien normalized backscatter and slope to land surface variables soil moisture and leaf area index. The land surface variables are simulations from the CO2-responsive ISBA-A-gs land surface model. Support vector machines have the advantage of providing implicit kernel functions, which make them very useful for non-linear problems. The ISBA-A-gs data is provided by Météo-France. In total, 1324 support vector machines have been optimized through a cross validated grid search. The optimized hyperparameters were shown to have spatial consistency and look promising as an initial approach to forward modelling backscatter and slope. The SVM performances are further investigated through corresponding land cover types of grid points and the land surface variables.Geoscience and Remote Sensin
STABILITY OF THE NAGAOKA STATE IN THE ONE-BAND HUBBARD-MODEL
No full textWe discuss the stability of the saturated ferromagnetic state of the one-band Hubbard model in the thermodynamic limit. We prove rigorously that the Nagaoka state is stable on a d-dimensional (d = 2,3) simple-cubic lattice if the number of holes N(h) is less than N-LAMBDA-alpha, 0 less-than-or-equal-to alpha < 1/2d. Finally, we explain briefly why the Nagaoka state is probably unstable when N(h) >> N-LAMBDA-1/2d.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:A1991GD96700045&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Physics, Condensed MatterSCI(E)26ARTICLE94444-44484
Turning Maneuver Prediction of Connected Vehicles at Signalized Intersections: A Dictionary Learning-Based Approach
No full textVehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication has provided a solution for the improvement of the traffic efficiency of smart city intersections. For example, turning maneuvers prediction at signalized intersections in a connected environment helps traffic command centers time traffic lights and dynamically predict traffic flow. However, the modeling methods used in existing research on this topic have some limitations, such as poor scalability and interpretability of machine learning. Thus, this study proposes a dictionary learning-based approach to predict turning maneuvers before the intersection. The proposed dictionary model estimates the LogDet divergence-based sparse inverse covariance matrix (LDbSICM) of driving behavior samples. The graphical lasso method is used to estimate the sparse inverse covariance matrix of the driving samples to construct a dictionary library of the maneuver behavior. The LogDet divergence is used to calculate the difference between each inverse covariance matrix. A driving simulator is utilized to collect experimental data consisting of turning left (TL), turning right (TR), and going straight (GS) behaviors to establish and evaluate the proposed model. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed dictionary learning-based turning maneuver prediction model achieves 100% prediction accuracy for TL and GS and 97.2% for TR. The proposed model has substantial advantages over existing methods. The model can predict TL, TR, and GS in a connected environment 270, 280, and 290 m, respectively, before the intersection. Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport and Plannin
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