2,602 research outputs found
The effectiveness of therapeutic horseback riding in children with spastic cerebral palsy
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Reformulating the rj-McMC Algorithm for 3D Inversion of Passive Seismic Data for Near-Surface Characterization
No full textGeophysical subsurface characterization techniques could, due to their non-invasive nature, play a crucial role in the design and subsequent construction of infrastructure in urban & industrial environ- ments. Geo-data specialist company Fugro sees potential in upgrading their current ambient-seismic- noise-tomography workflow, to make use of state-of-the-art inversion schemes with the main goal of increasing the quality and accuracy of the initial-site characterization delivered to clients. In this thesis I explore the feasibility of utilizing the reverse-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (rj-McMC) algorithm for the inversion of ambient seismic noise for characterization in urban & industrial environments. Specif- ically, testing the potential of scaling down this inversion algorithm to fit in a small scale, near-surface framework. To achieve this, I first carried out analyses to evaluate the appropriate Rayleigh wave frequency range, after which realistic noise hyperparameters, suited for this reduced scale problem, were obtained. Because of the potential exploitation of in-situ borehole measurements, I reformulated the Bayesian prior within the rj-McMC algorithm to implement these constraining shear wave velocity values appropriately. I conducted extensive synthetic experiments to gain insight into the behavior of this adapted algorithm, from which it was concluded that the inherent dynamic discretization partially prevents these constraints from being implemented to their full extent. Nevertheless, promising results lead me to conclude that the use of the rj-McMC algorithm for application in near-surface urban & industrial environments is feasible.Applied Geophysics | IDEA Leagu
Clowns, Fools, and Killers: An Exploration of Horror, Comedy, and Madness Through the Roles of Murderer 2 and Sir Richard Ratcliffe in William Shakespeare\u27s Richard III
Full text linkThis document is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts with a Concentration in Musical Theatre. It is a detailed account of author RJ Magee’s artistic and scholarly process in creating the roles of Murderer 2 and Sir Richard Ratcliffe in William Shakespeare’s Richard III. The production was performed as part of Minnesota State University, Mankato’s mainstage season in October of 2022. In five chapters, this thesis chronicles the actor’s process: a preproduction analysis, a historical and critical perspective, a rehearsal and performance journal, a post-production analysis, and a process development analysis. Appendices and works cited are included
Radiation-induced root surface caries restored with glass-ionomer cement placed in conventional and ART cavity preparations: Results at two years
Full text linkThe document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association (8th Jan 2008). An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Background: There are no published studies comparing the clinical performances of more-viscous glass-ionomer cement (GIC) restorations when placed using conventional and atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) cavity preparation methods to restore root surface caries. Methods: One dentist used encapsulated Fuji IX GP and Ketac-Molar to restore 72 conventional and 74 ART cavity preparations for 15 patients who had received cervicofacial radiation therapy. Two assessors evaluated the restorations at six, 12, and 24 months for retention, marginal defects and surface wear, and recurrent caries. Results: After two years, the cumulative restoration successes were 65.2 per cent for the conventional and 66.2 per cent for the ART cavity preparations, without statistical or clinical significance (P>0.50). Restoration dislodgement accounted for 82.8 per cent and marginal defects for 17.2 per cent of all failures. There were no instances of unsatisfactory restoration wear or recurrent caries observed. Teeth with three or more restored cervical surfaces accounted for 79.3 per cent of all failures (P<0.0001). Conclusions: For root surface caries restored with GIC, the use of hand instruments only with the ART method was an equally effective alternative to conventional rotary instrumentation for cavity preparation. Larger restorations had higher failures, usually from dislodgement.JY Hu, XC Chen, YQ Li, RJ Smales and KH Yi
Effects of St. John’s wort on the Cytochrome P450 Activities of Rat Intestine and Liver
No full textSt. John’s wort（Hypericum perforatum L.）萃取物是目前普遍使用的草藥之一，主要是因為它們有治療輕度至中度憂鬱症活性的報告。然而，在近年的研究中發現，St. John’s wort有影響特定生體轉化第一期單氧酵素cytochrome P450（CYP）的作用，分為長期使用後的CYP促進作用與短期使用後的CYP抑制作用。CYP在藥物代謝中扮演很重要的角色，因此，如對CYP造成促進作用的物質，會造成藥物血中濃度降低，而造成治療失敗，如HIV蛋白酶抑制劑indinavir。
本研究使用週齡14 ± 2（10-20）週以及59 ± 2（54-62）週分別代表年輕與年長的Wistar大鼠，連續餵食低劑量（150 mg/day）或高劑量（300 mg/day）St. John’s wort 15天。藉由分離出肝臟及小腸的微粒體，測定CYP1A的7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation（EROD）、CYP2E1的p-nitrophenol hydroxylation（PNPH）及CYP3A的erythromycin N-demethylation（EMND）活性，探討St. John’s wort對CYP活性的作用。實驗發現大鼠肝臟CYP1A的活性在年輕低劑量組有被促進（58.8 ± 11.2 vs. 37.2 ± 12.7 pmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.05），在年長高劑量組也有被促進（109.3 ± 6.8 vs. 57.8 ± 28.8 pmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.05）。肝臟CYP2E1的活性只有在年輕低劑量組會被促進（1.98 ± 0.34 vs. 1.20 ± 0.40 nmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.05）。而大鼠肝臟CYP3A的活性在年輕低劑量組會被促進（0.72 ± 0.11 vs. 0.31 ± 0.07 nmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.001），小腸CYP3A的活性卻不會。本研究進而發現St. John’s wort之促進大鼠肝臟CYP2E1及CYP3A的作用，會受大鼠週齡不同而影響，僅在年輕的大鼠中才有發現促進作用。
以上結果顯示，St. John’s wort確實有促進大鼠肝臟特定CYP的作用，而沒有促進大鼠小腸CYP3A的作用。而在不同週齡與不同劑量時，其促進作用之程度並不相等。綜合本實驗室近年研究St. John’s wort與indinavir的交互作用，推測除了CYP之外還有其他重要因素及機轉，影響此交互作用。St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) extract is one of the most commonly used herbal medications, mainly because of their activity in treating mild to moderate depression. In the recent study, St. John’s wort has the long-term inductive and short-term inhibitive effects of regulating some of the biotransformation phase I monooxygenase, cytochrome P450 (CYP). CYP plays an important role in drug metabolism. Therefore, the matter which has the inductive effects of CYP is able to reduce plasma concentrations of certain drugs, like HIV protease inhibiter, indinavir, to make the treatment fail.
Oral administration of either low dose (150 mg/day) or high dose (300 mg/day) St. John’s wort extracts for 15 days was given to the 14±2 (10-20) and 59±2 (54-62) weeks old (representing the young-adult and aged group, respectively) Wistar rats in our research. The activities of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation (EROD) of CYP1A, p-nitrophenol hydroxylation (PNPH) of CYP2E1, and erythromycin N-demethylation (EMND) of CYP3A in isolated hepatic microsome and intestinal microsome were determined for investigating the effect of St. John’s wort on CYP. We found that the hepatic CYP1A activities were induced in the young-adult low dose group (58.8 ± 11.2 vs. 37.2 ± 12.7 pmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.05) and the aged high dose group (109.3 ± 6.8 vs. 57.8 ± 28.8 pmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.05). The induction of hepatic CYP2E1 activity was only found in young-adult low dose group (1.98 ± 0.34 vs. 1.20 ± 0.40 nmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.05). CYP3A in liver, not intestine, could be induced in young-adult low dose group (0.72 ± 0.11 vs. 0.31 ± 0.07 nmol/mg protein/min，p < 0.001). However, when we discover that St. John’s wort only induces the hepatic CYP in young-adult rats, there are some differences between the inductive effects of St. John’s wort on hepatic CYP, especially CYP2E1 and CYP3A, in young-adult rats and aged rats.
According to the results, it demonstrated that St. John’s wort can induce the activity of hepatic CYP but not intestinal CYP3A in rats. Either the age of rats or dosage of St. John’s wort might vary the inductive effect of rat hepatic CYP. We combine the results with the recent research in drug interaction of St. John’s wort and indinavir in our lab. Besides CYP, there might be other important factors and mechanisms in this interaction.中文摘要..................................................i
英文摘要................................................iii
第一章 文獻探討...........................................1
1.1 前言..................................................1
1.2 研究背景..............................................3
1.2.1 Cytochrome P450.....................................3
1.2.2 經影響Cytochrome P450之中草藥藥品交互作用研究方法...8
1.2.3 St. John’s wort研究綜述...........................16
第二章 研究目的..........................................27
第三章 實驗材料與方法....................................28
3.1 實驗材料.............................................28
3.1.1 實驗動物...........................................28
3.1.2 實驗藥品與試劑.....................................28
3.1.3 實驗儀器...........................................30
3.2 實驗方法.............................................31
3.2.1 實驗動物處理.......................................31
3.2.2 大鼠肝臟微粒體製備.................................32
3.2.3 大鼠小腸微粒體製備.................................34
3.2.4 7-Ethoxyresorufin O-Deethylation（EROD）反應檢測...37
3.2.5 p-Nitrophenol Hydroxylation（PNPH）反應檢測........37
3.2.6 Erythromycin N-Demethylation（EMND）反應檢測.......38
3.2.7 反應檢測定量方法之確認.............................39
3.2.8 蛋白質定量.........................................40
3.2.9 統計分析...........................................40
第四章 實驗結果..........................................42
4.1 大鼠體重、肝臟重量及St. John’s wort餵食劑量換算.....42
4.2 大鼠肝臟微粒體蛋白質含量.............................42
4.3 酵素活性檢測標準迴歸直線與確認.......................46
4.4 St. John’s wort對年輕大鼠肝臟酵素活性的影響.........46
4.4.1 年輕大鼠肝臟CYP1A活性.............................46
4.4.2 年輕大鼠肝臟CYP2E1活性............................51
4.4.3 年輕大鼠肝臟CYP3A活性.............................51
4.5 St. John’s wort對年長大鼠肝臟酵素活性的影響.........54
4.5.1 年長大鼠肝臟CYP1A活性.............................54
4.5.2 年長大鼠肝臟CYP2E1活性............................54
4.5.3 年長大鼠肝臟CYP3A活性.............................57
4.6 大鼠成年組與年長組肝臟CYP活性之比較..................57
4.7 St. John’s wort對大鼠小腸CYP3A活性的影響............59
第五章 討論..............................................61
5.1 實驗方法討論.........................................61
5.1.1 實驗動物處理.......................................61
5.1.2 微粒體製備.........................................61
5.1.3 大鼠小腸微粒體製備問題探討.........................62
5.1.4 蛋白質測定方法.....................................63
5.1.5 活性測定方法.......................................64
5.2 實驗結果討論.........................................67
5.2.1 肝臟重量與體重的關係...............................67
5.2.2 大鼠肝臟微粒體蛋白質含量...........................67
5.2.3 St. John’s wort對大鼠肝臟CYP1A活性影響之探討......69
5.2.4 St. John’s wort劑量對年輕組大鼠肝臟CYP活性之影響..70
5.2.5 年輕大鼠與年長大鼠肝臟CYP活性測定結果之探討........72
5.2.6 St. John’s wort對大鼠小腸CYP3A活性影響之探討......73
5.3 綜合討論：St. John’s wort對大鼠CYP的影響以及與indinavir的藥品交互作....................................75
第六章 結論與未來方向....................................77
參考文獻.................................................7
Paediatric use of melatonin (Author reply to D. J. Kennaway).
No full textComment on
Paediatric use of melatonin. [Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2015]
Current role of melatonin in pediatric neurology: clinical recommendations. [Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2015
Platelet-rich plasma and macular hole surgery: A clue to their mode of action and the influence of anti-platelet agents
No full text\ua9 The Author(s) 2022. Purpose: To present a case of refractory full-thickness macular hole (FTMH), in which autologous platelet-rich plasma (aPRP) was used on two consecutive occasions, and associated with successful closure only after complete cessation of anti-platelet therapy. Methods: Interventional case report. Results: A 63-year-old male with Alport syndrome underwent pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling and gas for a large FTMH. The patient was on systemic anti-platelet agents for coronary disease. Post-operatively, the FTMH remained open and repeated surgery, augmented with aPRP, was performed. Although a thick pre-retinal coagulum was evident on optical coherence tomography on day one post-surgery, the second surgery failed. Ultimately, successful aPRP-augmented surgical closure of the FTMH was achieved only after complete cessation of systemic anti-platelet agents. Conclusion: Appropriate management of anti-platelet therapy may be relevant when planning aPRP use, though further large-scale studies are needed to assess the precise effect of anti-platelet therapy on the efficacy of aPRP, and to confirm the potential role of aPRP in patients with Alport syndrome
Approximation and Optimal Algorithms for Scheduling Jobs subject to Release Dates
No full textIn this dissertation, we study the single machine scheduling problem with an objective of minimizing the total completion time subject to release dates. The problem, denoted 1|rj \uce\ua3Cj ,was known to be strongly NP-hard and both theoretically and practically important. The focus of the research in this dissertation is to develop the efficient algorithms for solving the 1|rj|\uce\ua3Cj problem.
This thesis contains two parts.
In the first part, the theme concerns the approximation approach. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for local optimality, which can be implemented as a priority rule and be used to construct three heuristic algorithms with running times of O(n log n). By \ue2local optimality\ue2, we mean the optimality of all candidates whenever a job is selected in a schedule, without considering the other jobs preceding or following. This is the most broadly considered concepts of locally optimal rule. We also identify a dominant subset which is strictly contained in each of all known dominant subsets, where a dominant subset is a set of solutions containing all optimal schedules.
In the second part, we develop our optimality algorithms for the 1|rj |\uce\ua3Cj problem. First, we present a lemma for estimating the sum of delay times of the rest jobs, if the starting time is delayed a period of time in a schedule. Then, using the lemma, partially, we proceed to develop a new partition property and three dominance theorems, that will be used and have improved the branch-and-bound algorithms for our optimization approach. By exploiting the insights gained from our heuristics as a branching scheme and by exploiting our heuristics as an upper bounding procedure, we propose three branch-and-bound algorithms. Our algorithms can optimally solve the problem up to 120 jobs, which is known to be the best till now
Needle deflection in thermal ablation procedures of liver tumors: a CT image analysis
No full textIntroduction: Accurate needle placement is crucial in image-guided needle interventions. A targeting error may be introduced due to undesired needle deflection upon insertion through tissue, caused by e.g. patient breathing, tissue heterogeneity, or asymmetric needle tip geometries. This paper aims to quantify needle deflection in thermal ablation procedures of liver tumors by means of a CT image analysis. Methods: Needle selection was done by using all clinical CT data that were made during thermal ablation procedures of the liver, ranging from 2008-2016, in the Erasmus MC, the Netherlands. The 3D needle shape was reconstructed for all selected insertions using manual segmentation. Subsequently, a straight line was computed between the entry point of the needle into the body and the needle tip. The maximal perpendicular distance between this straight line and the actual needle was used to calculate needle deflection. Results: In total, 365 needles were included in the analysis ranging from 14G to 17G in diameter. Average needle insertion depth was 95mm (range: 32 mm – 182 mm). Needle deflection was on average 1.3 mm (range: 0.0 mm – 6.5 mm). 54% of the needles (n=196) had a needle deflection of more than one millimeter, whereas 7% of the needles (n=25) showed a large needle deflection of more than three millimeters. Conclusions: Needle deflection in interventional radiology occurs in more than half of the needle insertions. Therefore, deflection should be taken into account when performing procedures and when defining design requirements for novel needles. Further, needle insertion models need to be developed that account for needle deflection.Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technolog
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