Real-time advanced spinal surgery via visible patient model and augmented reality system

This paper presents an advanced augmented reality system for spinal surgery assistance, and develops entry-point guidance prior to vertebroplasty spinal surgery. Based on image-based marker detection and tracking, the proposed camera-projector system superimposes pre-operative 3-D images onto patients. The patients’ preoperative 3-D image model is registered by projecting it onto the patient such that the synthetic 3-D model merges with the real patient image, enabling the surgeon to see through the patients’ anatomy. The proposed method is much simpler than heavy and computationally challenging navigation systems, and also reduces radiation exposure. The system is experimentally tested on a preoperative 3D model, dummy patient model and animal cadaver model. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed system is verified on three patients undergoing spinal surgery in the operating theater. The results of these clinical trials are extremely promising, with surgeons reporting favorably on the reduced time of finding a suitable entry point and reduced radiation dose to patients.     

Temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics of n-MgxZn1−xO/p-GaN junction diodes

This study investigates the temperature dependence of the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diodes. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO films were deposited on p-GaN using a radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering system followed by annealing at 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C in nitrogen ambient for 60 s, respectively. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN diode at a substrate temperature of 25 °C had the lowest leakage current in reverse bias. However, the leakage current of the diodes increased with an increase in annealing temperatures. The temperature sensitivity coefficients of the I-V characterizations were obtained at different substrate temperatures (25, 50, 75 100, and 125 °C) providing extracted values of 26.4, 27.2, 17.9, and 0.0 mV/°C in forward bias and 168.8, 143.4, 84.6, and 6.4 mV/°C in reverse bias, respectively. The n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diode fabricated with Mg_xZn_1−xO annealed at 800 °C demonstrated the lowest temperature dependence. Based on these findings, the n-Mg_xZn_1−xO/p-GaN junction diode is feasible for GaN-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs).     

The Beneficial Effects of Combining Anti-Aβ Antibody NP106 and Curcumin Analog TML-6 on the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease in APP/PS1 Mice

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with a multifactorial etiology. A multitarget treatment that modulates multifaceted biological functions might be more effective than a single-target approach. Here, the therapeutic efficacy of combination treatment using anti-Aβ antibody NP106 and curcumin analog TML-6 versus monotherapy was investigated in an APP/PS1 mouse model of AD. Our data demonstrate that both combination treatment and monotherapy attenuated brain Aβ and improved the nesting behavioral deficit to varying degrees. Importantly, the combination treatment group had the lowest Aβ levels, and insoluble forms of Aβ were reduced most effectively. The nesting performance of APP/PS1 mice receiving combination treatment was better than that of other APP/PS1 groups. Further findings indicate that enhanced microglial Aβ phagocytosis and lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines were concurrent with the aforementioned effects of NP106 in combination with TML-6. Intriguingly, combination treatment also normalized the gut microbiota of APP/PS1 mice to levels resembling the wild-type control. Taken together, combination treatment outperformed NP106 or TML-6 monotherapy in ameliorating Aβ pathology and the nesting behavioral deficit in APP/PS1 mice. The superior effect might result from a more potent modulation of microglial function, cerebral inflammation, and the gut microbiota. This innovative treatment paradigm confers a new avenue to develop more efficacious AD treatments.     

Preparation and properties of thermosensitive organic‐inorganic hybrid gels containing modified nanosilica

A series of thermosensitive organic–inorganic hybrid gels containing nanosilica or modified nanosilica were prepared from N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), and N,N′‐methylene‐bis‐acrylamide (NMBA) and nanosilica (AE200) or modified AE200 (mAE200); and NIPAAm, NMBA, 3‐(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA) as coupling agent and AE200 or mAE200 in this study. The effect of inorganic nanosilica on the swelling behaviors and mechanical properties were investigated by adding different amount of nanosilica and modified nanosilica. Results showed that the swelling ratios of the hybrid gels decrease with increasing nanosilica content. Existence of silane coupling agent would also reduce the swelling ratios of the hybrid gels. Adding coupling agent or nanosilica would improve the gel strength. Modification of nanosilica by grafting amino‐silane via sol–gel process was carried out and the effect of addition of modified silica on gel properties was also investigated. Results showed that the hybrid gels containing modified silica would have higher swelling ratios and moduli than those containing unmodified silica. Gels containing both silane coupling agent and silica would have higher crosslinking density because the silica would be better crosslinked with coupling agent. POLYM. COMPOS., 31:1712–1721, 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Investigation of Neuropathology after Nerve Release in Chronic Constriction Injury of Rat Sciatic Nerve

Peripheral compressive neuropathy causes significant neuropathic pain, muscle weakness and prolong neuroinflammation. Surgical decompression remains the gold standard of treatment but the outcome is suboptimal with a high recurrence rate. From mechanical compression to chemical propagation of the local inflammatory signals, little is known about the distinct neuropathologic patterns and the genetic signatures after nerve decompression. In this study, controllable mechanical constriction forces over rat sciatic nerve induces irreversible sensorimotor dysfunction with sustained local neuroinflammation, even 4 weeks after nerve release. Significant gene upregulations are found in the dorsal root ganglia, regarding inflammatory, proapoptotic and neuropathic pain signals. Genetic profiling of neuroinflammation at the local injured nerve reveals persistent upregulation of multiple genes involving oxysterol metabolism, neuronal apoptosis, and proliferation after nerve release. Further validation of the independent roles of each signal pathway will contribute to molecular therapies for compressive neuropathy in the future.     

SOD2 Enhancement by Long-Term Inhibition of the PI3K Pathway Confers Multi-Drug Resistance and Enhanced Tumor-Initiating Features in Head and Neck Cancer

The phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway has widely been considered as a potential therapeutic target for head and neck cancer (HNC); however, the application of PI3K inhibitors is often overshadowed by the induction of drug resistance with unknown mechanisms. In this study, PII3K inhibitor resistant cancer cells were developed by prolonged culturing of cell lines with BEZ235, a dual PI3K and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor. The drug resistant HNC cells showed higher IC₅₀ of the proliferation to inhibitors specifically targeting PI3K and/or mTOR, as compared to their parental cells. These cells also showed profound resistance to drugs of other classes. Molecular analysis revealed persistent activation of phosphorylated AKT at threonine 308 in the drug resistant cells and increased expression of markers for tumor-initiating cells. Interestingly, increased intra-cellular ROS levels were observed in the drug resistant cells. Among anti-oxidant molecules, the expression of SOD2 was increased and was associated with the ALDH-positive tumor-initiating cell features. Co-incubation of SOD inhibitors and BEZ235 decreased the stemness feature of the cells in vitro, as shown by results of the spheroid formation assay. In conclusion, dysregulation of SOD2 might contribute to the profound resistance to PI3K inhibitors and the other drugs in HNC cells.     

Patterning flood illumination with microlens arrays

We describe a convenient lithographic technique that can produce simple, repetitive micropatterns over large areas (several square centimeters). The technique uses an illuminated array of micrometer-scale lenses to generate an array of optical patterns in an image plane located within micrometer distances from the lens array. A layer of photoresist, placed in the image plane, records the patterns. Microlenses with different sizes, profiles, composition, and indices of refraction produce corresponding patterns in exposed and developed photoresist. Both spherical and nonspherical microlenses were examined. Several types of optical element containing arrays of microlenses were fabricated and used to demonstrate that this technique can generate uniform micropatterns over large areas (>4 cm2) in a single exposure. The smallest features produced had dimensions of approximately 100 nm.     

Genetic Polymorphisms of lncRNA LINC00673 as Predictors of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression in an Elderly Population

Long noncoding (lnc)RNAs are reported to be key regulators of tumor progression, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The lncRNA long intergenic noncoding RNA 00673 (LINC00673) was indicated to play an important role in HCC progression, but the impacts of genetic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) of LINC00673 on HCC remain unclear. A TaqMan allelic discrimination assay was performed to analyze the genotypes of three tagging SNPs, viz., rs9914618 G > A, rs6501551 A > G, and rs11655237 C > T, of LINC00673 in 783 HCC patients and 1197 healthy subjects. Associations of functional SNPs of LINC00673 with HCC susceptibility and clinicopathologic variables were analyzed by logistic regression models. After stratification by confounding factor, we observed that elderly patients (≥60 years) with the LINC00673 rs9914618 A allele had an increased risk of developing HCC under a codominant model (p = 0.025) and dominant model (p = 0.047). Moreover, elderly patients carrying the GA + AA genotype of rs9914618 exhibited a higher risk of having lymph node metastasis compared to those who were homozygous for the major allele (p = 0.013). Genotype screening of rs9914618 in HCC cell lines showed that cells carrying the AA genotype expressed higher LINC00673 levels compared to the cells carrying the GG genotype. Further analyses of clinical datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) showed that LINC00673 expressions were upregulated in HCC tissues compared to normal tissues, and were correlated with advanced clinical stages and poorer prognoses. In conclusions, our results suggested that the LINC00673 rs9914618 polymorphism may be a promising HCC biomarker, especially in elderly populations.     

Exploiting Atomic Control to Show When Atoms Become Molecules

Precision-placed atom qubits in silicon offer a unique means to confine electrons and control their spins with extreme accuracy, which can be leveraged to construct powerful quantum computers. To date atom qubits in silicon have been successfully realized using electrons hosted either on a single phosphorus atom or on a multi-donor quantum dot. Here, a novel molecular regime is explored in which electrons are bound to two donor dots separated by ≈8 nm in a natural silicon substrate. The molecular state, provided by these spatially separated donors, is used to study with exquisite precision the impact of confinement potential on the electronic and spin properties of qubits. Unique spin filling measurements, performed on up to five electrons, confirm how electrons are shared between both sites of the molecule, forming hybridized molecular states. The precise atomic locations of the donor atoms in the silicon lattice are determined by combining the experimental electron spin resonance spectra and the state-of-the-art atomistic modeling of multi-electron wave-functions in presence of realistic electric fields. The donor molecule studied in this work exhibits excellent qubit properties and addresses the impact that the confinement potential has, at the atomic scale, on the desired properties of electron spin qubits.