Academic literature on the topic 'Gage block'

BackgroundTransforaminal epidural steroid injection is widely used in clinical practice to effectively deliver injectate into the ventral epidural space. Complications associated with intravascular injection such as spinal cord infarction and paraplegia can occur during transforaminal epidural steroid injection. To improve the safety of the procedure, avoidance of intravascular injection is crucial, for which appropriate needle selection is important. The primary aim of this study was to compare intravascular injection rates during transforaminal epidural steroid injection between commonly used Quincke and Tuohy needles.MethodTwo hundred and four transforaminal epidural steroid injection cases were randomly assigned to one of two needle groups (22-gage Quincke needle or 22-gage Tuohy needle). Intravascular injection was evaluated using digital subtraction angiography. Spread of contrast medium to the ventral and medial epidural spaces was evaluated. Procedure time was compared between the two needle types.ResultsThe overall incidence of intravascular injection was 7.8%. The rate of intravascular injection was significantly lower in the Tuohy needle group than the Quincke needle group (2.9% vs 12.7%, p=0.009). The ventral and medial epidural spread rates of the Tuohy needle group were 92.2% and 95.1%, respectively, significantly higher than those of the Quincke needle group. The procedure time was shorter in the Tuohy needle group than in the Quincke needle group (97.4 (19.3) seconds vs 117.8 (31.9) s; mean difference −20.40 (95% CI −34.35 to −6.45), p=0.005).ConclusionsIn conclusion, Tuohy needles had a lower intravascular injection rate and higher medial and ventral epidural spreading rates than Quincke needles.Trial registration numberKCT0002095.

The accurate characterization of linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of thin films is vital for predicting the thermal stress, which often results in warpage and failure of a MEMS structure. In this paper, special emphasis is placed on the development of novel test method to extend an ISDG (Interferometric Strain/Displacement Gage) technique to the direct and accurate CTE measurement of MEMS materials, AlN and Au. The freestanding AlN and Au films are 1 μm thick and 5 mm wide. Strain is directly measured by a brand-new digital type ISDG with two Cr lines deposited on the specimen while heating a specimen in a furnace. The whole test system is verified first by measuring the CTE for the NIST’s SRM (Standard Reference Material) 736 (Cu) block. The measured CTE is 17.3 με/oC up to 167 oC, which agrees well with the NIST’s certified value. The CTE of Au is 25.4 ± 1.15 με/oC and that of AlN film is 3.77 ± 0.12 με/oC. The in-plane displacement resolution is about 5 nm at the best circumstances.

ABSTRACTMammalian prions are unconventional infectious agents composed primarily of the misfolded aggregated host prion protein PrP, termed PrPSc. Prions propagate by the recruitment and conformational conversion of cellular prion protein into abnormal prion aggregates on the cell surface or along the endocytic pathway. Cellular glycosaminoglycans have been implicated as the first attachment sites for prions and cofactors for cellular prion replication. Glycosaminoglycan mimetics and obstruction of glycosaminoglycan sulfation affect prion replication, but the inhibitory effects on different strains and different stages of the cell infection have not been thoroughly addressed. We examined the effects of a glycosaminoglycan mimetic and undersulfation on cellular prion protein metabolism, prion uptake, and the establishment of productive infections in L929 cells by two mouse-adapted prion strains. Surprisingly, both treatments reduced endogenous sulfated glycosaminoglycans but had divergent effects on cellular PrP levels. Chemical or genetic manipulation of glycosaminoglycans did not prevent PrPScuptake, arguing against their roles as essential prion attachment sites. However, both treatments effectively antagonizedde novoprion infection independently of the prion strain and reduced PrPScformation in chronically infected cells. Our results demonstrate that sulfated glycosaminoglycans are dispensable for prion internalization but play a pivotal role in persistently maintained PrPScformation independent of the prion strain.IMPORTANCERecently, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) became the focus of neurodegenerative disease research as general attachment sites for cell invasion by pathogenic protein aggregates. GAGs influence amyloid formationin vitro. GAGs are also found in intra- and extracellular amyloid deposits. In light of the essential role GAGs play in proteinopathies, understanding the effects of GAGs on protein aggregation and aggregate dissemination is crucial for therapeutic intervention. Here, we show that GAGs are dispensable for prion uptake but play essential roles in downstream infection processes. GAG mimetics also affect cellular GAG levels and localization and thus might affect prion propagation by depleting intracellular cofactor pools.

This template explains and demonstrates how to design a measurement system based on the size of the linear structured light vision, the system could works at realized the high precision and fast measurement of the size of mechanical parts, and accurate calibration of the system. First of all, this paper set up the experimental platform based on linear structured light vision measurement. Secondly, this paper established a system of measurement model, and puts forward a new method of calibration of structured light sensor and set up the mathematical model of sensor calibration. This calibration method only need to use some gage blocks of high precision as the target, the target position need not have a strict requirements, and the solving process will be more convenient, much easier to field use and maintenance. Finally, measuring accuracy on the system by gage blocks with high precision is verified, the experiment shows that measurement accuracy within 0.050 mmin the depth of 0-80 - mm range. This system can satisfy the demands of precision testing of most industrial parts .with its simple calibration process and high precision, it is suitable for the structured light vision calibration.

The effect of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on the proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) and fibroblasts was assessed by culturing cells with or without GAGs. Porcine heparan sulphate (HS) inhibited proliferation in a dose dependent manner. At 167 μg/ml of HS this reached 88% and 72% inhibition of SMC and fibroblast growth, respectively. Pig and beef mucosal heparins also blocked proliferation, but to a lesser extent. In contrast, beef lung heparin, chondroitin sulphate, and dermatan sulphate failed to block growth factor induced proliferation. Continuous presence of HS was not required, suggesting that the inhibitory effects resulted from a direct effect on the cell rather than an interaction of the GAG with growth factors. The mechanism by which GAGs inhibit proliferation will be addressed in future studies.

558 Background: Genomic platforms, such as Mammaprint (Agendia) (MP) and OncoType (Genomic Health) (OT), have been validated to determine the risk of relapse in therapeutic decision-making in early-stage hormone receptor positive (HR+), epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative breast cancer (BC). Discordances in risk allocation between these platforms affect up to 30% of patients. This study aims to develop the MamaPred test to improve the diagnostic performance of recurrence risk in HR+/HER2- early-stage BC. Methods: A total of 606 HR+/HER2- early-stage BC previously tested with OT [n = 287; Low Risk (LR) = 165, Intermediate Risk (IR) = 103 and High Risk (HR) = 19] and MP (n = 319; LR = 217 and HR = 102) were included. A retrospective independent series of 144 HR+/HER2- early-stage BC [median follow-up: 10.53 years (range: 3.1-23.1 yrs); age (median = 62.9 yrs (33-89 yrs); systemic relapse 10.5% (n = 15)] was used as validation set.The expression levels of 2560 cancer-related mRNAs were evaluated from one 5 μm thin-section of a FFPE block (15 mm2 tumor area) using the Oncology Biomarker Panel (OBP) and the HTG EdgeSeq System (HTG Molecular Diagnostics. Inc) and quantified by NGS on a NextSeq550 sequencer (Illumina). A predictive model was built from normalized and logarithmically transformed values (rescaled to [0, 1]) using as response a binary meta-variable constructed by taking the values -1 (for LR of MP and OT together the OT IR) and 1 (for HR MP and OT). Differential expression, GSEA and visualization were performed with DESeq2, gage and pathview packages respectively in R v4.0.1. Results: MamaPred consists of a logistic regression classifier with an elastic net penalty (mix of L1 and L2 priors as regularizer) where the mixing parameter is optimized along with regularization strength by selecting the ones that minimize the area under the precision and recall curve over a validation split for each training fold. Metrics of MamaPred were: balanced accuracy, 80.5%; Kappa, 0.562; specificity, 80.7%; and NPV, 91.4%. GSE analysis on differentially expressed genes (q < 0.1) showed four KEGG pathways overrepresented in HR (p < 0.05): adherens junction, tight junction, glutathione metabolism and focal adhesion; and two underrepresented: DNA replication (p = 0.0765) and pyrimidine metabolism (p = 0.086).The prognostic prediction of MamaPred was validated on the independent retrospective series, distant disease-free survival for HR and LR being 88.63% (95% IC: 78.72%-99.78%) and 98.1% (95% IC: 95.6%-100%) respectively (p = 0.00603). Correlation between the probabilities assigned to any given sample and its replicas was extremely high (r > 0.9 p < 1e-5). Conclusions: MamaPred identifies HR+/HER2- early-stage BC patients with high-risk of distant relapse improving the prognostic value of those studies that compare MP and OT, suggesting a more precise risk classification.

Black men have the highest age-adjusted death rate of any major race-gender group in America. Understanding their perceived barriers to accessing health care may benefit future interventions working to increase Black men’s health care engagement. Data collected from focus groups of Black men( N = 67), key informant interviews( N = 12), and interviews( N = 5) with participants who pilot tested an online health education system (called “Gabe”) were analyzed to explore their health care experiences and how computer-based health programs might better assist Black men. Concerns pertaining to health care systems’ failure to recognize the diversity among Black men, and physicians’ lack of sociocultural awareness about the challenges they regularly face, were most salient. Building trust with providers was cited as being central to engagement, with Gabe users perceiving the system to be both trustworthy and accessible. Participants reported an openness to technology assisting with health management and provided suggestions of how online systems can meet the needs of Black men.