Statistical moments-based OSNR monitoring for coherent optical systems.

We present a novel statistical moments-based method for optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitoring in polarization-multiplexed (pol-mux) coherent optical systems. This technique only requires the knowledge of the envelope of the equalized signal before phase correction, which can be achieved by using any two arbitrary statistical moments, and it is suitable for both constant and non-constant modulus modulation formats. The proposed estimation method is experimentally demonstrated for 10-Gbaud pol-mux coherent systems using QPSK and 16-QAM.

Fiber nonlinearity compensation for OFDM super-channels using optical phase conjugation.

We experimentally demonstrate that mid-link optical phase conjugation (OPC) effectively compensates fiber nonlinearity in coherent optical OFDM super-channels. The OPC was produced by pump × subcarrier degenerate four-wave-mixing in a 1-km highly nonlinear fiber. The nonlinear threshold for the 10 × 80-km 604.

Overexpression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase improves endothelium-dependent vasodilation in arteries infused with helper-dependent adenovirus.

Adenoviral vectors (Ad) are useful tools for in vivo gene transfer into endothelial cells. However, endothelium-dependent vasodilation is impaired after Ad infusion, and this impairment is not prevented by use of advanced-generation "helper-dependent" (HD) Ad that lack all viral genes. We hypothesized that endothelium-dependent vasodilation could be improved in Ad-infused arteries by overexpression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS).

Cross-linking carbon nanotubes by glycidyl azide polymer via click chemistry.

Functionalization and cross linking of carbon nanotubes was necessary to fabricate nanotube composites with good interfacial properties and mechanical performance. Glycidyl azide polymer was used as cross-linker of carbon nanotubes via a simple clickable one step reaction initiated by decomposition of azide groups. Both heating and UV irradiation were used to carry out the reaction.

Pilot-based XPM nonlinearity compensator for CO-OFDM systems.

We experimentally verify that pilot-based nonlinearity compensation is effective for mitigating XPM in CO-OFDM systems, if SPM is compensated first. A 6-dB increase in the nonlinear limit was produced by pilot-based XPM compensation after a single-step SPM compensator in a 400-km link with periodic dispersion compensation. In addition, we use numerical simulations to show that the required bandwidth of the guard-band around the pilot is almost independent of the bandwidth of the data-carrying sidebands.

Literature study on clinical treatment of facial paralysis in the last 20 years using Web of Science: Comparison between rehabilitation, physiotherapy and acupuncture.

Background: Facial paralysis is defined as severe or complete loss of facial muscle motor function.

Objective: The study was undertaken to explore a bibliometric approach to quantitatively assess the research on clinical treatment of facial paralysis using rehabilitation, physiotherapy and acupuncture using Web of Science from 1992 to 2011.

Design: Bibliometric approach.

Effects and patient compliance of sustained-release versus immediate-release glipizides in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This review aimed to address effects of sustained-release versus immediate-release glipizide on glucose control, insulin secretion, and compliance. We searched Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Chinese Biomedical database from inceptions to May 31, 2011, screened reference lists of relevant studies, and contacted pharmaceutical companies. Randomized trials and cohort studies were included.

Transforming growth factor-β signaling in myogenic cells regulates vascular morphogenesis, differentiation, and matrix synthesis.

Objective: Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling is required for normal vascular development. We aimed to discover the role of TGF-β signaling in embryonic smooth muscle cells (SMCs).

Methods And Results: We bred mice with smooth muscle (SM) 22α-Cre and Tgfbr2(flox) alleles to generate embryos in which the type II TGF-β receptor (TGFBR2; required for TGF-β signaling) was deleted in SMCs.

All-optical OFDM transmitter design using AWGRs and low-bandwidth modulators.

An Arrayed-Waveguide Grating Router (AWGR) can be used as a demultiplexer for an optical OFDM system, as it provides both the serial-to-parallel converter and the optical Fourier transform (FT) in one component. Because an inverse FT is topologically identical to a Fourier transform, the AWGR can also be used as a FT in an OFDM transmitter. In most all-optical OFDM systems the optical modulators are fed with CW tones; however, the subcarriers (SC) will only be perfectly orthogonal if the bandwidth of the data modulators is similar to the total bandwidth of all subcarriers.

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: mission, responsibility and operation.

As a national public clinical trial registry and a recognized Primary Registry of the WHO ICTRP, the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) has responsibility to disseminate knowledge about clinical trial transparency, which is an important ethical issue for healthcare studies involving humans, and to promote the quality of healthcare studies in China. This article describes the mission, policy and operation of the ChiCTR. We discuss the need to improve the quality of clinical trials and our ideas for new developments.

Overview of Cytochrome P450 1B1 gene mutations in patients with primary congenital glaucoma.

The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution of mutations in the Cytochrome P450 1B1 gene (CYP1B1) in patients with primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) among different populations. All identifiable original studies on CYP1B1 gene mutations of patients with PCG were reviewed. Finally, DNA mutations within the CYP1B1 gene were identified in 542 patients with PCG according to 52 scientific articles and 147 distinct mutations were found.

Optimizing the subcarrier granularity of coherent optical communications systems.

In this paper, we use numerical simulations to show that the symbol rate has a significant effect on the nonlinearity-limited performance of coherent optical communication systems. We consider the case where orthogonal subcarriers are used to maximize the spectral efficiency. Symbol rates from 0.

Quality assessment of reporting of randomization, allocation concealment, and blinding in traditional Chinese medicine RCTs: a review of 3159 RCTs identified from 260 systematic reviews.

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which are of poor quality tend to exaggerate the effect estimate and lead to wrong or misleading conclusions. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of randomization methods, allocation concealment and blinding within traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) RCTs, discuss issues identified for current TCM RCTs, and provide suggestions for quality improvement.

Methods: We searched Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM, 1978 to July 31, 2009) and the Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2009) to collect TCM systematic reviews and meta-analyses according to inclusion/exclusion criteria, from which RCTs could be identified.

Pilot-based cross-phase modulation compensation for coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing long-haul optical communications systems.

A pilot-based nonlinearity compensator (PB-NLC) is shown in this Letter to be an effective method for compensating cross-phase modulation (XPM) in coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems. An unmodulated pilot tone is transmitted at the center of each OFDM channel to detect phase errors caused by the Kerr effect, which converts intensity fluctuations from all channels to phase errors. The pilots are then used to cancel the XPM phase errors for each OFDM channel at the receiver after each channel's self-phase modulation (SPM) has been compensated, using its intensity waveform to determine its SPM.

Mechanisms of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA)-mediated atherosclerosis: role of the uPA receptor and S100A8/A9 proteins.

Data from clinical studies, cell culture, and animal models implicate the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA)/uPA receptor (uPAR)/plasminogen system in the development of atherosclerosis and aneurysms. However, the mechanisms through which uPA/uPAR/plasminogen stimulate these diseases are not yet defined. We used genetically modified, atherosclerosis-prone mice, including mice with macrophage-specific uPA overexpression and mice genetically deficient in uPAR to elucidate mechanisms of uPA/uPAR/plasminogen-accelerated atherosclerosis and aneurysm formation.

Helper-dependent adenovirus is superior to first-generation adenovirus for expressing transgenes in atherosclerosis-prone arteries.

Objective: Vascular gene transfer is a powerful tool for investigating and treating vascular diseases; however, its utility is limited by brevity of transgene expression and vector-associated inflammation. Helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAd), an advanced-generation adenovirus that lacks all viral genes, is superior to first-generation adenovirus (FGAd) in normal rabbit arteries. We compared HDAd to FGAd in arteries of cholesterol-fed rabbits, a model of early atherogenesis in which transgene expression might be decreased, and inflammation increased.

No-guard-interval coherent optical OFDM with self-tuning receiver.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a no-guard-interval (No-GI) coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (CO-OFDM) system that uses Fractionally-Spaced Time-Domain Equalizers (FS-TDE) to simultaneously demultiplex and equalize each subcarrier. Least-mean-squares algorithms (LMS) tune each FS-TDE to a subcarrier. A short unique training sequence is transmitted on each subcarrier, allowing each FS-TDE to lock onto its subcarrier.

Helper-dependent adenoviral vector achieves prolonged, stable expression of interleukin-10 in rabbit carotid arteries but does not limit early atherogenesis.

Vascular gene therapy could potentially complement or replace current therapies for human atherosclerosis, while avoiding their side effects. However, development of vascular gene therapy is limited by lack of a useful vector. Helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAd) shows promise to overcome this barrier because, unlike first-generation adenovirus, HDAd achieves durable transgene expression in the artery wall with minimal inflammation.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) +936 C/T gene polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis involving 4,138 subjects.

The association between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) +936 C/T gene polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk is still controversial and ambiguous. The objective of our study was to investigate this association. The Medline and Embase databases were searched by two investigators.

A randomized trial comparing radiofrequency ablation and surgical resection for HCC conforming to the Milan criteria.

Objective: To compare the long-term outcomes of surgical resection and radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Summary Background Data: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a promising, emerging therapy for small HCC. Whether it is as effective as surgical resection (RES) for long-term outcomes is still indefinite.

A blind watermarking scheme using new nontensor product wavelet filter banks.

As an effective method for copyright protection of digital products against illegal usage, watermarking in wavelet domain has recently received considerable attention due to the desirable multiresolution property of wavelet transform. In general, images can be represented with different resolutions by the wavelet decomposition, analogous to the human visual system (HVS). Usually, human eyes are insensitive to image singularities revealed by different high frequency subbands of wavelet decomposed images.

Improved single channel backpropagation for intra-channel fiber nonlinearity compensation in long-haul optical communication systems.

Backpropagation has been shown to be the most effective method for compensating intra-channel fiber nonlinearity in long-haul optical communications systems. However, effective compensation is computationally expensive, as it requires numerous steps and possibly increased sampling rates compared with the baud rate. This makes backpropagation difficult to implement in real-time.

Infrared laser induced lateral photovoltaic effect observed in Cu(2)O nanoscale film.

The large infrared lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) based on semiconductor structures has been a challenge for a long time because the light in this region is hard to be absorbed. In this study, we report an unusual infrared laser induced LPE observed in sputtered Cu(2)O thin films. The maximum open-circuit lateral photovoltage can reach up to a remarkable value of 30.

Overexpression of urokinase by plaque macrophages causes histological features of plaque rupture and increases vascular matrix metalloproteinase activity in aged apolipoprotein e-null mice.

Background: The mechanisms of atherosclerotic plaque rupture are poorly understood. Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is expressed at elevated levels by macrophages in advanced human plaques. Patients with evidence of increased plasminogen activation have an elevated risk of major cardiovascular events.