BACKGROUND Several hepatic cirrhosis-derived noninvasive models have been developed to predict the incidence and outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of the two novel established cirrhosis-associated models based on gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and platelets in hepatitis B-associated HCC. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated 18...

The germination protease (GPR) of Bacillus megaterium initiates the degradation of small, acid-soluble proteins during spore germination. Trypsin treatment of the 46-kDa GPR zymogen (termed P46) removes an approximately 15-kDa C-terminal domain generating a 30-kDa species (P30) which is stable against further digestion. While P30 is not active, it does autoprocess to a smaller form by cleavage ...

Offset-dependent reflectivity or amplitude-variationwith-offset AVO analysis of ground-penetrating radar GPR data may improve the resolution of subsurface dielectric permittivity estimates. A horizontally stratified medium has a limiting layer thickness below which thin-bed AVO analysis is necessary. For a typical GPR signal, this limit is approximately 0.75 of the characteristic wavelength of ...

Structural degradation of road pavements has a considerable impact on traffic safety. Roadway surface defects or discontinuities make driving uncomfortable and increase chances of accidents. GPR is an effective and non-destructive technique to discover and trace the causes of road pavement damages so characterizing road integrity. The paper shows the findings of a GPR survey carried out on degr...

Modeling and simulation results of a system analysis of Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR) using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) techniques are presented. Performance issues with GPRs need to be isolated in order to optimize of the radar’s ability to detect and identify buried objects. Using a system engineering approach, FDTD models were used to characterize the variables associated with the...

In this paper, a signal processing technique is developed to reduce clutter due to ground bounce in ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements. This technique is especially useful when a GPR is used to detect subsurface antipersonnel mines. The GPR clutter is modeled using a simple parametric model. Buried mine and clutter contributions are separated through a pair of coupled iterative procedu...

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a nondestructive sensor technology for detecting underground objects. GPR requires large-aperture antennas to survey a remote location precisely because of the expansion of microwaves. We propose a laser-driven GPR (LGPR) that uses microwave radiation from a laser plasma to achieve remote sensing. LGPR is expected to provide good spatial resolution with a small...

Chemokines are likely to play an important role in regulating the trafficking of developing T cells within the thymus. By using anti-CD3varepsilon treatment of recombinase-activating gene 2 (Rag2-/-) mice to mimic pre-TCR signaling and drive thymocyte development to the double positive stage, we have identified murine GPR-9-6 as a chemokine receptor whose expression is strongly induced followin...

Traditional GPR Surveys. High-speed GPR surveys have been performed for many years to map the condition of aging bridge deck structures. Most often, one or more 1.0 GHz horn antennas are driven along unique survey paths spaced anywhere from 3 to 4ft apart—and 2 to 3 GPR scans are collected along every linear foot of the deck surface that is being sampled. Surface dielectric properties, signal a...