Vitamin C blocks inflammatory platelet-activating factor mimetics created by cigarette smoking

Cigarette smoking within minutes induces leukocyte adhesion to the vascular wall and formation of intravascular leukocyte-platelet aggregates. We find this is inhibited by platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonists, and correlates with the accumulation of PAF-like mediators in the blood of cigarette smoke-exposed hamsters. These mediators were PAF-like lipids, formed by nonenzymatic oxidative modification of existing phospholipids, that were distinct from biosynthetic PAF. These PAF-like lipids induced isolated human monocytes and platelets to aggregate, which greatly increased their secretion of IL-8 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha. Both events were blocked by a PAF receptor antagonist. Similarly, blocking the PAF receptor in vivo blocked smoke-induced leukocyte aggregation and pavementing along the vascular wall. Dietary supplementation with the antioxidant vitamin C prevented the accumulation of PAF-like lipids, and it prevented cigarette smoke-induced leukocyte adhesion to the vascular wall and formation of leukocyte-platelet aggregates. This is the first in vivo demonstration of inflammatory phospholipid oxidation products and it suggests a molecular mechanism coupling cigarette smoke with rapid inflammatory changes. Inhibition of PAF-like lipid formation and their intravascular sequela by vitamin C suggests a simple dietary means to reduce smoking-related cardiovascular disease.     

Curative treatment for pancreatic neoplasms. Radical resection

The available data suggest that lymph node involvement is an important prognostic factor in patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Lymph node metastases occur in as many as 50% of the cases of even the smallest pancreatic cancers now being diagnosed and resected (i.e., those < 2 cm in diameter). There is some evidence, especially from clinical experience in Japan, that wider lymphatic dissections (i.e., wider than those commonly done with the standard Whipple resection) may prolong survival. Unfortunately, many of the available data around the world are retrospective and are not randomized between the standard and the radical operation. Moreover, the pathologic material has not been staged uniformly according to accepted criteria. Thus the various series are not comparable. Comparisons between series require standardization with respect to stage of disease, pathologic classification, and treatment protocols. Before any modification of the standard pancreaticoduodenectomy is adopted, an appropriately designed study should be performed to test its efficacy. This study would also require a more comprehensive analysis of the pathologic material than is commonly performed today in the United States and Europe.     

Synthesis and anticonvulsant activity of new thiazolidinone and thioxoimidazolidinone derivatives derived from furochromones

Various new thiazolidinone and thioxoimidazolidinone derivatives were synthesized starting from 4,9-dimethoxy-5 H-furo[3,2-g][1]benzopyran-5-on-7-carboxaldehyde. The anticonvulsant activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated. Most of the compounds showed anticonvulsant activity equal or superior to phenobarbital.     

Unilateral hearing loss due to a rhabdomyoma in a six-year-old child

A case report of a six-year-old child is presented, who had had a unilateral sensorineural hearing loss for several years. Because of impairment in the ABR as well as in the caloric testing a MRI and CT scan were performed. A 17 mm tumour in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) was detected, which after suboccipital surgery proved to be a rhabdomyoma. This tumour has not been described before in the CPA. Unilateral sensorineural hearing loss should, at all ages, be an indication for further (radiodiagnostic) investigations.     

改进自适应中值滤波算法在图像去噪中的应用

针对自适应中值滤波在窗口迭代过程中存在像素点重复参与运算导致算法复杂度较高的问题,提出了一种改进的中值滤波算法. 首先依据有效像素点与窗口中心点间的坐标距离来快速确定最佳滤波窗口尺寸,避免了窗口迭代造成的像素点重复排序;之后对窗口内的有效像素点进行取中值操作,有效削弱了噪声点的干扰,进一步提升了图像滤波的质量. 经实验验证,与自适应中值滤波算法比较,复杂度显著降低,峰值信噪比(peak signal to noise ratio,PSNR)值平均提高10dB左右. 和同类文献比较在算法复杂度和图像降噪效果间做出了一个较佳的权衡. 最后将该算法应用于Kinect深度图降噪上获得了不错的效果.

     

WSN中基于粒子滤波的目标跟踪研究

针对无线传感器网络中仅有角度测量的目标跟踪问题,详细分析其定位过程,提出一种基于改进粒子滤波算法的新解决方案.方案采用高斯混合模型(GMM)代替单一模型近似概率密度分布,融入粒子滤波算法,提议分布采用SRUKF-PF算法更新粒子.算法中增加改进措施以提高滤波性能如:残差重采样算法用于重采样、K-means算法用于构建预估起始点、EM算法用于拟合GMM近似等.仿真结果验证了方案的有效性.