Brno University of Technology

About: Brno University of Technology is a education organization based out in Brno, Czechia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Fracture mechanics. The organization has 6339 authors who have published 15226 publications receiving 194088 citations. The organization is also known as: Vysoké učení technické v Brně & BUT.

Serum and tissue zinc in epithelial malignancies: a meta-analysis.

Abstract: Background and Objectives: Current studies give us inconsistent results regarding the association of neoplasms and zinc(II) serum and tissues concentrations The results of to-date studies using meta-analysis are summarized in this paper Methods: Web of Science (Science citation index expanded), PubMed (Medline), Embase and CENTRAL were searched Articles were reviewed by two evaluators; quality was assessed by Newcastle-Ottawa scale; meta-analysis was performed including meta-regression and publication bias analysis Results: Analysis was performed on 114 case control, cohort and cross-sectional studies of 22737 participants Decreased serum zinc level was found in patients with lung (effect size = -104), head and neck (effect size = -143), breast (effect size = -093), liver (effect size = -229), stomach (effect size = -159), and prostate (effect size = -136) cancers; elevation was not proven in any tumor More specific zinc patterns are evident at tissue level, showing increase in breast cancer tissue (effect size = 180) and decrease in prostatic (effect size = -390), liver (effect size = -826), lung (effect size = -312), and thyroid cancer (effect size = -284) The rest of the included tumors brought ambiguous results, both in serum and tissue zinc levels across the studies The association between zinc level and stage or grade of tumor has not been revealed by meta-regression Conclusion: This study provides evidence on cancer-specific tissue zinc level alteration Although serum zinc decrease was associated with most tumors mentioned herein, further - prospective - studies are needed

Ink-and-ray: Bas-relief meshes for adding global illumination effects to hand-drawn characters

Abstract: We present a new approach for generating global illumination renderings of hand-drawn characters using only a small set of simple annotations. Our system exploits the concept of bas-relief sculptures, making it possible to generate 3D proxies suitable for rendering without requiring side-views or extensive user input. We formulate an optimization process that automatically constructs approximate geometry sufficient to evoke the impression of a consistent 3D shape. The resulting renders provide the richer stylization capabilities of 3D global illumination while still retaining the 2D hand-drawn look-and-feel. We demonstrate our approach on a varied set of hand-drawn images and animations, showing that even in comparison to ground-truth renderings of full 3D objects, our bas-relief approximation is able to produce convincing global illumination effects, including self-shadowing, glossy reflections, and diffuse color bleeding.

DEP-on-a-Chip: Dielectrophoresis Applied to Microfluidic Platforms.

Abstract: Dielectric particles in a non-uniform electric field are subject to a force caused by a phenomenon called dielectrophoresis (DEP). DEP is a commonly used technique in microfluidics for particle or cell separation. In comparison with other separation methods, DEP has the unique advantage of being label-free, fast, and accurate. It has been widely applied in microfluidics for bio-molecular diagnostics and medical and polymer research. This review introduces the basic theory of DEP, its advantages compared with other separation methods, and its applications in recent years, in particular, focusing on the different electrode types integrated into microfluidic chips, fabrication techniques, and operation principles.