249 research outputs found
An algorithm suitable for online identification of subthalamic nucleus from microelectrode recording data
No full textThis dissertation presents a new algorithm for online identification of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) using microelectrode recording (MER) during deep brain stimulation (DBS). DBS is a common surgical technique used to suppress Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms especially among late stage patients. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is capable of identifying the approximate location of STN, MER is still commonly used as a complementary measure due to its higher accuracy and easy intraoperative manipulation. Final decision of the electrode placement is still made by the neurosurgeon based on the response from patients when stimuli are given at different spots, in order to gain the best tremor control ability from DBS. However, algorithms that utilize the MER data from the tip of DBS electrode also provide valuable help for the neurosurgeon to make a more informed decision. Especially in situations where the response from patients is less distinctive across STN boundary, those algorithms can be critical for the success of DBS surgery. In this research we aim to develop an algorithm that is more robust and accurate. To accomplish this, we will focus on several different metrics based on the same recording. Various methods are used to evaluate and select these features. Then, a machine learning mechanism is used to cluster the data using fuzzy c-means clustering and identify STN based on step detection. The algorithm has very good sensitivity and specificity for the task it faces. It is also efficient and suitable for online application.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Yuwen Zhan
Pan-sharpening with Structural Consistency and L1/2 Gradient Prior
No full textIn this letter, a variational method is proposed for pan-sharpening by fusing a
low resolution multispectral (LRMS) image with a high resolution panchromatic
(PAN) image to generate a high resolution multispectral (HRMS) image. Most
methods focus on spatial intensity preservation while the proposed method tends
to preserve the consistency of the spatial structure information. In addition,
an L1-aL2 metric is used to estimate L1/2
gradient prior. The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and the
difference of convex algorithm (DCA) are used to guarantee the convergence of
the algorithm. A large number of experiments show that the proposed method has
obvious advantages compared with other advanced methods both subjectively and
objectively
Improving health-promoting effects and stability of food ingredients using nanoencapsulation
No full textThe stability and bioavailability of food ingredients and foods fortified with functional ingredients has long been an issue. In this thesis, nanoemulsion-based delivery systems were used to improve health-promoting effects and stability of food ingredients. First, nanoemulsions, including solid lipid nanoemulsions, stabilized by Tween 20 and glycerol monooleate, lecithin, or modified starch were developed. The average particle size of nanoemulsions with sufficient emulsifiers (Tween 20 and glycerol monooleate) and energy input can reach 60.5 nm. The nanoemulsion system has been further proved to improve bioavailability of dibenzoylmethane by 2.95-fold, compared to that of conventional emulsions. Curcumin, a polyphenol compound extracted from turmeric powders, possesses a variety of health-promoting effects but has extremely low bioavailability, mainly due to limited solubility. A dry curcumin emulsion system was developed combining solvent displacement, emulsification, and freeze-drying technology. Two ug/ml of encapsulated curcumin decreased viability of HepG2 cells to 52% (100% by DMSO-dissolved curcumin); 13.69 mg/ml of encapsulated curcumin inhibited 71% of TPA-induced inflammation of mice ears (none by DMSO-dissolved curcumin). HPLC showed that the encapsulated curcumin was stable for at least two months. FTIR and DSC studies suggested that lower crystallinity of encapsulated curcumin contributed to the enhanced activities of encapsulated curcumin. Stability is another issue to be addressed. Citral, derived from citrus fruits, is one of the most important flavor ingredients in the food industry, but it is very susceptible to oxidation and off-flavor generation at acidic environment, in which citral is most often used. The modified-starch-based solid lipid nanoemulsion system was used to stabilize citral. For comparison, two emulsions stabilized either by Tween 20/glycerol monooleate or modified starch were also used to encapsulate citral. The results showed that the citral stability was best retained if encapsulated in solid lipid nanoemulsions, and the off-flavor generation was best inhibited by using thick emulsifiers such as modified starch. In the thesis, it was proved that the nanoemulsion and its variations improve the health-promoting effects of insoluble nutraceuticals and the stability of delicate food ingredients.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Yuwen Wan
Pan-Immune-Inflammation Value (PIV) and Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) are Associated with Distant Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer with KRAS Mutation but Not in Those with KRAS Wild-Type
No full textYunlin Li, Yuwen Zeng Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Meizhou People’s Hospital, Meizhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yuwen Zeng, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Meizhou People’s Hospital, Meizhou, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) have values in the prognosis assessment of tumors. However, their relationship with the distant metastasis risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. The aim of our study was to explore the relationship between PIV and PNI and the risk of distant metastasis in CRC patients with and without KRAS mutation.Methods: The clinical data (age, gender, body mass index (BMI), cigarette smoking, alcoholism, and diabetes mellitus, family history of tumor, tumor stage, and KRAS/NRAS mutation status) of 2408 CRC patients were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The optimal thresholds of PIV and PNI were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to reveal the relationship of PIV and PNI and distant metastasis in CRC with and without KRAS mutation, respectively.Results: The average levels of PIV and PNI was 327.62 (183.19, 590.36) and 46.70 (43.10, 50.90). There were 825 (34.3%) patients with distant metastasis and 1583 (65.7%) without. The optimal threshold of PIV and PNI was 339.50 and 45.53 by ROC analysis. Logistic regression analysis showed that stage T3-T4 (odds ratio (OR): 2.967, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.804– 4.880, p< 0.001), and stage N2-N3 (OR: 5.109, 95% CI: 3.886– 6.717, p< 0.001) were associated with distant metastasis in CRC with KRAS wild-type; while stage T3-T4 (OR: 5.963, 95% CI: 2.897– 12.273, p< 0.001), and stage N2-N3 (OR: 7.094, 95% CI: 5.070– 9.926, p< 0.001), high PIV (OR: 2.867, 95% CI: 2.119– 3.879, p< 0.001), and low PNI (OR: 1.620, 95% CI: 1.184– 2.215, p=0.003) were associated with distant metastasis in CRC with KRAS mutation.Conclusion: Stages T3-T4 and N2-N3 were associated with distant metastasis in CRC with and without KRAS mutation. High PIV and low PNI were associated with distant metastasis in CRC patients with KRAS mutation, but not in patients without KRAS mutation.Keywords: colorectal cancer, distant metastasis, KRAS, pan-immune-inflammation value, prognostic nutritional inde
韓非領導哲學在學校行政領導上的蘊義
No full text[[abstract]]Han Fei’s philosophy on leadership has been taken for granted as the masterpiece of Fa-Jia’s thoughts, which stressed law and punishment in ancient China. No matter what in arguing things or governing country, Fa-Jia adopted an objective way to distinguish right from wrong. His thoughts were influenced by Shang Yung who advocated in law-ruling by Shen Buh Hay who used skillful ruling techniques, and by Shen Dow who took the advantages of leader’s authority. In short, Fa Jia combined a variety of leading philosophy and applied all to build up not only a country of centralization but also an effective ruling strategy in the national army. Though being in situation of crisis, Han Fei had a keen insight which devoted himself to rescuing his country. As for Han Fei’s philosophy of application , he was relationship-oriented. In his lifetime, Han Fei wrote volumes of books including about 55 articles and all of his articles were explained by descendants; some hightly praised some not . To sum up, Han Fei’s debates on the leaderhsip of centralization, applied and leading techniques correspond with certain philosopher’s thoughts in western coutries, such as Weber, Machiavelli, Hobbes etc… .Therefore, Han-Fei’s thoughts are universally accepted as a useful theory of policties.
There are five chapters in this thesis; the first chapter is perface . The second chaper discusses briefly on both Chyn dynasty and Han Fei’s thoughts in terms of Fa-Jia’s thoughts and the summary of Han Fei’s history as well as his thoughts in terms of that period of time. The third chapter discusses the theories in China and the west leadership and Han Fei’s philosophy on leadership. The fourth chapter discusses the relationship between Hun-Fei’s philosophy and the leadership in school administration . The fifth chaper is the conclusion regarding how Han Fei’s Philosophy is applied in school administration.
In a word , law-ruling, ruling techniques and the leader’s authority are the essences of so as to help the leadership in school’s administration.
Dulong texts : seven fully analyzed narrative and procedural texts
No full textDulong is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous county in Yunnan, China, by members of the Dulong nationality (pop.: 6,000), and part of the Nu nationality (roughly 6,000 people)
Resource allocation in OFDMA-based relaying networks
No full textEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Application of emulsion-based delivery system to enhance bioavailability and efficacy of tangeretin
No full textTangeretin (5,6,7,8,4′-pentamethoxyflavone) is a polymethoxylated flavone found predominantly in citrus fruit peels. Numerous bio-functionalities have previously been reported for tangeretin. For chronic intakes, oral ingestion is typically the preferred method since it is the most convenient and non-invasive application route. However, tangeretin exhibits poor oral bioavailability as a result of its hydrophobic chemical structure. Consequently, the required tangeretin oral dosage for many intended therapeutic purposes is difficult to achieve. In this work, we aim to use an emulsion-based delivery system to enhance the bioavailability and efficacy of tangeretin. In first part of this work, a viscoelastic emulsion system containing >2.5% tangeretin was developed and its physical properties were characterized. In this viscoelastic emulsion system, the emulsion-encapsulated tangeretin was mixed with homogeneously-entrapped tangeretin crystals, which exhibited remarkable storage stability over six months. Following the development of the tangeretin emulsion system, the processing parameters were further optimized to obtain the required properties that may best enhance the oral bioavailability and efficacy. The ability of an emulsion-based delivery system to improve the oral bioavailability of tangeretin was examined using in vitro and in vivo models. In vitro lipolysis and TNO gastrointestinal model revealed that emulsion-delivered tangeretin was digested considerably more quickly and was 2.6-fold more bioaccessible than unformulated medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) suspension. In vivo pharmacokinetics analysis on mice confirmed that the oral bioavailability of tangeretin in the emulsion-based system was increased 2.3-fold, with a 23% increase in Cmax when compared with the unformulated suspension. Moreover, the emulsion-based delivery was proven to be an effective method to increase the oral therapeutic efficacy of tangeretin. The in vitro anti-proliferative activity of tangeretin was first evaluated using MTT essay on colonic carcinoma cell lines and was significantly improved by the use of the emulsion delivery system. The effectiveness of the emulsion system to enhance the in vivo oral efficacy of tangeretin against colorectal cancer development was also evaluated by the AOM/DSS-induced colitis-related colon tumorigenesis model. The tumor incidence, multiplicity, and pathological signs of colorectal adenoma were significantly reduced when tangeretin emulsion was applied. Finally, the related toxicity effects of the tangeretin viscoelastic emulsion were also investigated.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Yuwen Tin
Operational improvement at a mass customization semiconductor equipment manufacturing facility through inventory consolidation
No full textThesis: M. Eng. in Advanced Manufacturing and Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2017.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 77).This thesis addresses the operational improvement at Varian Semiconductor Equipment and Associates (Varian), a subsidiary of Applied Materials (AMAT), through material shortage reduction. Varian manufactures highly customized implantation equipment. Sub-assemblies that form an implantation tool are manufactured in the supermarket at Varian. The company is currently trying to increase the on-time delivery of sub-assemblies from the supermarket. Around 40% of sub-assemblies are delivered late to the tool production flow line or to the AMAT global parts banks and customers. This project focused on the improvement of supermarket on-time delivery. Impact analysis was conducted to assess the significance of the late delivery to the overall operation at Varian. Root causes of late delivery were identified through extensive data collection and three proposals were created: re-evaluation of inventory bin sizes, consolidation of inventory storage and assignment of priority based on real-time capacity. The second approach was further divided into two directions. This thesis emphasizes on one of the two directions, addressing the storage space required in the warehouse for inventory consolidation and the new material picking process. Various issues associated with the implementation were considered and solutions were proposed. Material shortages can be reduced by 64%, while pick-to-short kits are reduced by 50%. Supplier on-time delivery issues and purchase order placement should be investigated to further decrease material shortages.by Yuwen Zhang.M. Eng. in Advanced Manufacturing and Desig
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