153 research outputs found
The impact of bicuspid pulmonary valve in aortic position after arterial switch for transposition of the great arteries on neoaortic root and valve
No full textBackground Neoaortic valve regurgitation which might be related to root dilatation is one of the major concerns following arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition of the great arteries (TGA). However, the future of native bicuspid pulmonary valve (BPV) in aortic position remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of bicuspid neoaortic valve on neoaortic root morphology, function, and the long-term clinical outcomes after ASO for TGA using propensity score matching (PSM).
Methods From January 1997 to December 2018, 442 patients underwent ASO for TGA. Patients who underwent staged repair (n=15), were repaired at extremely old age (> 1 year, n=9), and died before discharge (n=46), and were lack of echocardiographic data at discharge (n=20) were excluded. Among a total of 352 eligible patients, 18 patients (5.1%) had a BPV. After PSM (1:4), 15 patients with BPV and 60 corresponding patients with tricuspid pulmonary valve were enrolled for analysis. Serial echocardiography was performed to assess the morphology and function of neoaortic root.
Results Baseline characteristics in both groups were similar. The median duration of follow-up was 9.9 years (4 months ~ 22.3 years). There was one late death. Freedom from reoperation at 10 years was 93.3 ± 6.4 % in bicuspid group and 87.0 ± 4.7 % in tricuspid group (p=0.84). Reoperation for aortic valve or aortic root was rarely required during follow-up. Indexed dimension (z-score) of neoaortic annulus was not increased in both groups (p=0.57), although there was a little increasing tendency in z-score of neoaortic sinus without intergroup difference (p=0.69). Deterioration in neoaortic valve function was more prominent in bicuspid group (common odds ratio; 1.40 in bicuspid group [p<0.01], and 1.12 in tricuspid group [p=0.03], p=0.03).
Conclusions Arterial switch operation could be a safe option in selected patients with TGA associated with BPV without increasing the risk of reoperation. Neoaortic root dilatation was similar in both groups, although deterioration of aortic valve function was more prominent in bicuspid group, which suggests that the neoaortic valve function would be deteriorated mainly by valve itself.Docto
Personalized Visual Dubbing through Virtual Dubber and Full Head Reenactment
No full textVisual dubbing aims to modify facial expressions to "lip-sync" a new audio track. While person-generic talking head generation methods have made significant progress in expressive lip synchronization across arbitrary identities, they usually lack person-specific details and fail to generate high-quality results. On the other hand, person-specific approaches enable realistic identity preservation and high lip-sync quality but require extensive training, limiting their adaptability in real-world applications.
Our method combines the strengths of both approaches to generate balanced results in lip synchronization and visual quality while achieving training efficiency. To this end, our pipeline incorporates a virtual dubber, a person-generic talking head, as an intermediate representation. This simplifies identity swapping, enhances efficiency, and improves both visual quality and expression accuracy.
Key innovations include full-head identity swapping and reenactment, eliminating artifacts such as the double chin effect while ensuring temporal stability. Through extensive quantitative and qualitative evaluations, we demonstrate that our approach achieves a superior balance between lip-sync accuracy and realistic facial reenactment.
Furthermore, we validate the robustness of our method with experiments in challenging real-world scenarios, including tilted head poses and facial occlusions. Notably, our pipeline operates effectively with short video clips, emphasizing its efficiency and practicality
Personalized Visual Dubbing through Virtual Dubber and Full Head Reenactment
No full textVisual dubbing aims to modify facial expressions to ''lip-sync'' a new audio track. While person-generic talking head generation methods achieve expressive lip synchronization across arbitrary identities, they usually lack person-specific details and fail to generate high-quality results. Conversely, person-specific methods require extensive training. Our method combines the strengths of both methods by incorporating a virtual dubber, a person-generic talking head, as an intermediate representation. We then employ an autoencoder-based person-specific identity swapping network to transfer the actor identity, enabling fullhead reenactment that includes hair, face, ears, and neck. This eliminates artifacts while ensuring temporal consistency. Our quantitative and qualitative evaluation demonstrate that our method achieves a superior balance between lip-sync accuracy and realistic facial reenactment.Eurographics 2025 - Short PapersShort Paper
Exploring a Novel Role of Glycerol Kinase 1 in Prostate Cancer PC-3 Cells
No full textClinically, prostate cancer is infamous for its histological and molecular heterogeneity, which causes great challenges to pinpoint therapy and pharmaceutical development. To overcome these difficulties, researchers are focusing on modulating tumor microenvironment and immune responses in addition to genetic alteration and epigenetic regulation. Here, we aimed to identify potential biomarkers or modulators of prostate cancer by investigating genes specifically altered in prostate cancer cells treated with established anti-cancer agents. Glycerol kinase 1 (GK1) is phosphotransferase encoded on the X chromosome, is associated with the synthesis of triglycerides and glycerophospholipids, and has been mainly studied for X-linked metabolic disorder GK deficiency (GKD). Interestingly, our DNA microarray analysis showed that several anti-cancer agents highly induced the expression of GK1, especially GK1a and GK1b isoforms, in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. To elucidate the relationship between GK1 and cancer cell death, a human GK1b-specific expression vector was constructed and transfected into the PC-3 cells. Surprisingly, GK1b overexpression dramatically reduced cell viability and significantly accelerated apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that GK1b may serve as a promising modulator and biomarker of cell death in prostate cancer, offering potential avenues for therapeutic intervention
Author Correction: Multifunctional effects of Lactobacillus sakei HEM 224 on the gastrointestinal tract and airway inflammation
No full textThe impact of a bicuspid pulmonary valve in the aortic position after arterial switch for transposition of the great arteries on neoaortic root dimension and function: a propensity score matched analysis
No full textOBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effect of a bicuspid pulmonary valve on neoaortic root morphology, function, and the clinical outcomes of early survivors after the arterial switch operation using propensity score matching. METHODS: From 1997 to 2018, a total of 442 patients underwent the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries. After exclusion of patients who underwent a staged repair, were repaired beyond 1 year of age, died before discharge and who lacked echocardiographic data at discharge, propensity score matching was used for analysis. RESULTS: Among 352 eligible patients, 18 patients (5.1%) had a bicuspid pulmonary valve. After propensity score matching (1:4), 15 patients with bicuspid valve (bicuspid group) and 60 patients with tricuspid valve (tricuspid group) were enrolled. The median follow-up duration was 9.9 years (4 months∼22.3 years). All-cause reoperation-free survival at 10 years was 93.3% in the bicuspid group and 87.0% in the tricuspid group (P = 0.839), and reoperation for neoaortic valve or root was required in 2 patients in the bicuspid group and 1 in the tricuspid group without intergroup difference. The z-score of the neoaortic annulus did not change in either group, although there was an increasing tendency in the z-score of the neoaortic sinus without intergroup difference (P = 0.690). Deterioration in neoaortic valve function was more prominent in the bicuspid group (p = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: The neoaortic sinus might outgrow the norm regardless of the number of neoaortic valve cusps, whereas the neoaortic annulus remained unchanged. Deterioration of valve function was more prominent in the bicuspid group, which suggests that a bicuspid valve might play a significant role in deterioration of neoaortic valve function, without an additional effect on root pathology
Aharonov–Bohm effect in graphene-based Fabry–Pérot quantum Hall interferometers
No full text© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited part of Springer Nature.Interferometers probe the wave-nature and exchange statistics of indistinguishable particles—for example, electrons in the chiral one-dimensional edge channels of the quantum Hall effect (QHE). Quantum point contacts can split and recombine these channels, enabling interference of charged particles. Such quantum Hall interferometers (QHIs) can unveil the exchange statistics of anyonic quasi-particles in the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE). Here, we present a fabrication technique for QHIs in van der Waals (vdW) materials and realize a tunable, graphene-based Fabry–Pérot (FP) QHI. The graphite-encapsulated architecture allows observation of FQHE at a magnetic field of 3T and precise partitioning of integer and fractional edge modes. We measure pure Aharonov–Bohm interference in the integer QHE, a major technical challenge in small FP interferometers, and find that edge modes exhibit high-visibility interference due to large velocities. Our results establish vdW heterostructures as a versatile alternative to GaAs-based interferometers for future experiments targeting anyonic quasi-particles.11Nsciescopu
Spatial Multiplexing of Fluorescent Reporters for Imaging Signaling Network Dynamics
No full text© 2020 The Author(s) In order to analyze how a signal transduction network converts cellular inputs into cellular outputs, ideally one would measure the dynamics of many signals within the network simultaneously. We found that, by fusing a fluorescent reporter to a pair of self-assembling peptides, it could be stably clustered within cells at random points, distant enough to be resolved by a microscope but close enough to spatially sample the relevant biology. Because such clusters, which we call signaling reporter islands (SiRIs), can be modularly designed, they permit a set of fluorescent reporters to be efficiently adapted for simultaneous measurement of multiple nodes of a signal transduction network within single cells. We created SiRIs for indicators of second messengers and kinases and used them, in hippocampal neurons in culture and intact brain slices, to discover relationships between the speed of calcium signaling, and the amplitude of PKA signaling, upon receiving a cAMP-driving stimulus
Measurement of differential t(t)over-bar production cross sections using top quarks at large transverse momenta in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV
No full text- …
