Multimodal signals (acoustic+visual) are known to be used by many anuran amphibians during courtship displays. The relative degree to which each signal component influences female mate choice, however, remains poorly understood. In this study we used a robotic frog with an inflating vocal sac and acoustic playbacks to document responses of female túngara frogs to unimodal signal components (aco...

OBJECTIVE Stretch-activated cation channels (SAC) have been suggested to act as endothelial mechanosensors for hemodynamic forces. Ca(2+) influx through SAC could induce an intracellular Ca(2+) signal stimulating Ca(2+)-dependent synthesis of vasodilators like NO, prostacyclin, or EDHF. In the present study we tested whether laminar shear stress (LSS) regulates SAC function. METHODS Electroph...

Background If only proximal embolization or ligation is performed for an internal iliac artery aneurysm (IIAA), transcatheter arterial embolization is sometimes difficult due to complex collateral circulation. A new method of direct percutaneous n-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA) sac embolization (b-DNSE) under balloon arterial occlusion for re-intervention of an IIAA after proximal ligation is pre...

Sulfur-containing substances derived from garlic and onion have been shown to prevent experimental carcinogenesis. One of the hypotheses explaining the mechanisms of the chemopreventive activity of these substances is that they activate detoxification systems such as glutathione S-transferase (GST). In this study the effects of S-allylcysteine (SAC), a water-soluble organosulfur compound derive...

Pulmonary fibrosis is a complex disease with high mortality and morbidity. As there are currently no effective treatments, development of new strategies is essential for improving therapeutic outcomes. S-allyl cysteine (SAC) is a constituent of aged garlic extract that has demonstrated efficacy as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. The current study examines the effects of SAC on pulmo...

Aiming at the problems of traditional grasping methods for mobile manipulators, such as single application scenarios, low accuracy, and complex tasks, this paper proposes an object recognition approach using Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) with You Only Look Once v5 (YOLOv5), which combines a vision algorithm deep reinforcement learning to achieve grasping. First, YOLOv5 is adopted identify ...

In this study, acesulfame (ACE), saccharin (SAC) and cyclamate (CYC) were found in all paired urine and blood samples collected from healthy adults, with mean values of 4070, 918 and 628 ng mL(-1), respectively, in urine and 9.03, 20.4 and 0.72 ng mL(-1), respectively, in blood. SAC (mean: 84.4 ng g(-1)) and CYC (4.29 ng g(-1)) were detectable in all liver samples collected from liver cancer pa...

Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the lacrimal sac is rare. Herein we report a 55-year-old female presented with epiphora in the right eye. Distention of the lacrimal sac secondary to nasolacrimal duct obstruction was observed. She was scheduled for external dacryocystorinostomy for the next month. When she came for surgery, a growing mass was recognised over the lacrimal sac region. On ...