RESUMEN
High-speed digital imaging (HSDI) of the larynx can provide important information on the vocal fold kinematics. This information is useful and may provide a better understanding of the mechanism of phonation and assist clinical assessment of voice disorders. Automatic tracing of the vocal fold vibration is a key step in the kinematic analysis and for correlative characterization of vocal fold vibrations and voice quality in normal and diseased states. In this study, we introduce a new approach for image segmentation and automatic tracing of vocal fold motion that combines the level set method and motion cue. This approach is applied to videokymogram (VKG)-form images, which are obtained from a sequence of laryngeal images captured using the HSDI. To utilize the motion cue for a more effective level set based segmentation on the VKG, we first construct a so-called standard deviation (STD) image by mapping the pixel-based measure of temporal intensity dispersion from the initial HSDI sequence. The STD image maps the extent of vocal fold motion, and followed by threshold operation, a region of interest (ROI) that encloses vocal fold motion, or glottal region, is identified. The performance and effectiveness of our approach are evaluated by using clinical datasets representing both normal and pathological voice conditions.
Asunto(s)
Pliegues Vocales/fisiopatología , Algoritmos , Fenómenos Biomecánicos , Humanos , Laringoscopía , Vibración , Grabación en Video , Trastornos de la Voz/fisiopatología , Calidad de la VozRESUMEN
Efficient gene transfer into mammalian cells mediated by small molecular amphiphile-polymer conjugates, bile acid-polyethylenimine (BA-PEI), is demonstrated, opening an efficient transport route for genetic materials across the cell membrane. This process occurs without the aid of endocytosis or other energy-consuming processes, thus mimicking macromolecular transduction by cell-penetrating peptides. The exposure of a hydrophilic face of the amphiphilic BA moiety on the surface of BA-PEI/DNA complex that mediates direct contact of the BA molecules to the cell surface seems to play an important role in the endocytosis- and energy-independent internalization process. The new modality of the polymeric biomimetics can be applied to enhanced delivery of macromolecular therapeutics.
Asunto(s)
Biomimética , Péptidos de Penetración Celular/metabolismo , Técnicas de Transferencia de Gen , Polímeros/metabolismo , Endocitosis/fisiología , Genes Reporteros , Polímeros/química , TransfecciónRESUMEN
The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of patient age with respect to tumour aggressiveness in men who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer. In this study, we reviewed the records of 743 patients who received RP without neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy at our institution and were followed up for >2 years postoperatively. For our analyses, the patients were divided into two groups according to age: younger (<60 years) and older (≥60 years). Through uni- and multivariate analyses, associations of various clinicopathological parameters, including biochemical recurrence-free survival, with patient age, were evaluated among all patients, and the patients were stratified according to their D'Amico risk classification. Among all subjects, younger (n=126) and older (n=617) patients showed no significant differences regarding pathological parameters and biochemical recurrence-free survival (P=0.288). For the high-risk group (n=206), younger patients had a lower rate of biochemical recurrence-free survival following surgery than older patients (P=0.017), despite the fact that no significant differences were observed regarding various known prognostic parameters between the two age groups. In addition, multivariate analysis revealed that age was an independent predictor of biochemical recurrence-free survival among the high-risk group (P=0.003). Our results showed that relatively younger patients have a comparable biochemical outcome compared with their older counterparts following RP performed for prostate cancer. However, among patients with high-risk disease, younger patients have a worse biochemical outcome following RP compared with older patients.