Comparative analysis of dermal collagen and lipids in cereblon ablated mice using a multimodal nonlinear optical system.

By utilizing a multimodal nonlinear optical system that combines coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and second harmonic generation to investigate biological characteristics of dermal tissues ex vivo, we demonstrate the potential feasibility of using this optical approach as a powerful new investigative tool for future biomedical research. For this study, our optical system was utilized for the first time to analyze lipid and collagen profiles in cereblon knockout (KO) mouse skin, and we were able to discover significant alterations in the number of carbon-carbon double bonds (wild-type vs. cereblon KO; NCC : 0.75 vs. 0.85) of skin fatty acids in triacylglycerides as well as changes in dermal collagen fibers (25% reduction in cereblon KO). By adopting our optical system to biological studies, we provide researchers with another diagnostic approach to validate their experimental results, which will significantly advance the state of biomedical research.

Nasalance change after sinonasal surgery: analysis of voice after septoturbinoplasty and endoscopic sinus surgery.

BACKGROUND: Changes in nasalance caused by resonance change after endonasal surgeries have been reported in prior studies. In clinical practice, although patients often complain of a nasal voice just after surgery, their voices recover over time. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term nasalance changes before and after endonasal surgery. METHODS: Patients who underwent sinonasal surgery at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital between March 2009 and July 2011 were included in this study. We classified the subjects into three groups according to the surgeries they underwent: group 1, the septoturbinoplasty group; group 2, the endoscopic sinus surgery group; and group 3, the septoturbinoplasty and endoscopic sinus surgery group. We checked acoustic profiles, Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain (GRBAS) scores, and nasalance using a nasometer before and after the sinonasal surgery. RESULTS: When considering multidimensional voice program results, no observed parameters showed statistically meaningful changes before or after the operation in all three groups. GRBAS scales in all patients changed less than two scales postoperatively. Nasalance increased at 1 month after the operation in all groups. However, it returned to original levels with time: 3 months in group 2 and 6 months in groups 1 and 3. CONCLUSION: Sinonasal surgery can change the acoustic characteristics of the vocal tract and produce a significant increase in nasality in the early phase. However, after proper healing of the nasal cavity, nasality was observed to become similar to the preoperative level. Therefore, patients, especially voice professionals, do not need to be wary of voice changes after sinonasal surgery.

Is preoperative computed tomographic density measurement of soft tissues helpful in the diagnosis of cholesteatoma?

OBJECTIVES: We undertook to verify the usefulness of computed tomography Hounsfield units (HU) in differentiating cholesteatoma from inflammatory tissue. METHODS: In 91 enrolled cases, the lesions were classified according to the gross pathology, and the specific locations of each lesion were documented by 1 surgeon within 1 day after the operation. The densities in HU of cholesteatoma and non-cholesteatoma lesions were retrospectively measured 3 times by the same examiner, and the difference between the two groups was analyzed. The interobserver reliability among the 3 examiners was assessed to verify the confidence level of the HU measurements in preoperative detection of cholesteatoma. RESULTS: The mean HU values of cholesteatoma were 35.7 to 66.6 HU, and those of non-cholesteatoma lesions were 32.9 to 51.3 HU. A general linear model-repeated-measures analysis of variance did not show any significant difference between the cholesteatoma and non-cholesteatoma lesions (p = 0.305). The general linear model-repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant difference of the measured HU levels among the 3 examiners (p = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the HU values on preoperative computed tomography did not suffice for the detection of cholesteatoma lesions. A clinician's physical examination together with an interpretation of computed tomography is still the "gold standard" method.

Pulsatile tinnitus arising from aberrant internal carotid artery at nasopharynx.

Pulsatile tinnitus arising from an aberrant internal carotid artery at the level of the nasopharynx is rarely found. We present a case of a 74-year-old woman complaining of pulsatile tinnitus in the right ear. The tinnitus was not audible by auscultation. Endoscopic examination revealed pulsating swelling of the nasopharyngeal wall on the right side. Computed tomography angiography of the head and neck region showed medial and superficial transposition of the right internal carotid artery at the level of the nasopharynx. The artery was located right next to the orifice of the Eustachian tube and coursed along the distal portion of the tube. The patient's perception of tinnitus was improved after explaining the cause of the tinnitus and reassuring her about the-condition.

T-S model based indirect adaptive fuzzy control using online parameter estimation.

A parameter estimation scheme with an appropriate adaptive law for updating the parameters is designed and analyzed based on the Lyapunov theory for the general MIMO Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models. The parameters of the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy models can be estimated by observing the behavior of the system and with the online parameter estimator, any type of fuzzy controllers works adaptively to the parameter perturbation. In order to show the applicability of the proposed estimator, an existing fuzzy state feedback controller is adopted and indirect adaptive fuzzy control design with the proposed estimator is shown. From the numerical simulations and experiments, it is shown that the derived adaptive law works for the estimation model to follows the parameterized plant model and the overall control system has robustness to the parameter perturbation.

Algorithm for detecting human faces based on convex-hull.

In this paper, we proposed a new method to detect faces in color based on the convex-hull. We detect two kinds of regions that are skin and hair likeness region. After preprocessing, we apply the convex-hull to their regions and can find a face from their intersection relationship. The proposed algorithm can accomplish face detection in an image involving rotated and turned faces as well as several faces. To validity the effectiveness of the proposed method, we make experiment with various cases.

Preparation and Structures of the 2.2.2-Cryptand(1+) Salts of the [Sb(2)Se(4)](2)(-), [As(2)S(4)](2)(-), [As(10)S(3)](2)(-), and [As(4)Se(6)](2)(-) Anions.

2.2.2-Cryptand(1+) salts of the [Sb(2)Se(4)](2)(-), [As(2)S(4)](2)(-), [As(10)S(3)](2)(-), and [As(4)Se(6)](2)(-) anions have been synthesized from the reduction of binary chalcogenide compounds by K in NH(3)(l) in the presence of the alkali-metal-encapsulating ligand 2.2.2-cryptand (4,7,13,16,21,24-hexaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo[8.8.8]hexacosane), followed by recrystallization from CH(3)CN. The [Sb(2)Se(4)](2)(-) anion, which has crystallographically imposed symmetry 2, consists of two discrete edge-sharing SbSe(3) pyramids with terminal Se atoms cis to each other. The Sb-Se(t) bond distance is 2.443(1) Å, whereas the Sb-Se(b) distance is 2.615(1) Å (t = terminal; b = bridge). The Se(b)-Sb-Se(t) angles range from 104.78(4) to 105.18(5) degrees, whereas the Se(b)-Sb-Se(b) angles are 88.09(4) and 88.99(4) degrees. The (77)Se NMR data for this anion in solution are consistent with its X-ray structure (delta 337 and 124 ppm, 1:1 intensity, -30 degrees C, CH(3)CN/CD(3)CN). Similar to this [Sb(2)Se(4)](2)(-) anion, the [As(2)S(4)](2)(-) anion consists of two discrete edge-sharing AsS(3) pyramidal units. The As-S(t) bond distances are 2.136(7) and 2.120(7) Å, whereas the As-S(b) distances range from 2.306(7) to 2.325(7) Å. The S(b)-As-S(t) angles range from 106.2(3) to 108.2(3) degrees, and the S(b)-As-S(b) angles are 88.3(2) and 88.9(2) degrees. The [As(10)S(3)](2)(-) anion has an 11-atom As(10)S center composed of six five-membered edge-sharing rings. One of the three waist positions is occupied by a S atom, and the other two waist positions feature As atoms with exocyclic S atoms attached, making each As atom in the structure three-coordinate. The As-As bond distances range from 2.388(3) to 2.474(3) Å. The As-S(t) bond distances are 2.181(5) and 2.175(4) Å, and the As-S(b) bond distance is 2.284(6) Å. The [As(4)Se(6)](2)(-) anion features two AsSe(3) units joined by Se-Se bonds with the two exocyclic Se atoms trans to each other. The average As-Se(t) bond distance is 2.273(2) Å, whereas the As-Se(b) bond distances range from 2.357(3) to 2.462(2) Å. The Se(b)-As-Se(t) angles range from 101.52(8) to 105.95(9) degrees, and the Se(b)-As-Se(b) angles range from 91.82(7) to 102.97(9) degrees. The (77)Se NMR data for this anion in solution are consistent with its X-ray structure (delta 564 and 317 ppm, 3:1 intensity, 25 degrees C, DMF/CD(3)CN).