A Multi-camera Network System for Markerless 3D Human Body Voxel Reconstruction

This paper presents a fully automated system for real-time 3D human visual hull reconstruction and skeleton vox-els extraction. The main contributions include: (1) A novel network based system is presented, which uses AXIS net-work cameras as video capture device, and performs a parallel processing among data capture, 3D voxel recon-struction and display. (2) A new human visual hull re-construction algorithm is given. This approach firstly seg-ments the foreground accurately by an efficient Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and a shadow model in HSV color space, then extends the standard Shape-From-Silhouette (SFS) algorithm with online Region-of-Interest (ROI) esti-mation and binary searching, and finally construct skele-ton probability visual hull with distance transform. Exper-iments with real video sequences show that the system can process eleven 640x480 video sequences at a frame rate of 15fps, and construct human body voxels reliably in complex scenarios with cast shadows, various body configurations and multiple persons. 1

TLR3 Ligand PolyI:C Prevents Acute Pancreatitis Through the Interferon-β/Interferon-α/β Receptor Signaling Pathway in a Caerulein-Induced Pancreatitis Mouse Model

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common and devastating inflammatory disorder of the pancreas. However, there are still no effective treatments available for the disease. Therefore, it is important to discover new therapeutic targets and strategies for better treatment and prognosis of AP patients. Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) ligand polyI:C is a double-stranded RNA mimic that can be used as an immune stimulant. Our current study indicates that polyI:C exerted excellent anti-inflammatory effects in a caerulein-induced AP mouse model and taurocholate-induced pancreatic acinar cell line injury model. We found that polyI:C triggers type I interferon (IFN) production and downstream IFN-α/β receptor (IFNAR)-dependent signaling, which play key roles in protecting the pancreas from inflammatory injury. Knockout of IFN-β and IFNAR in mice abolished the preventive effects of polyI:C on caerulein-induced AP symptoms, which include pancreatic edema, neutrophil infiltration, the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and inflammatory gene expression. Treating pancreatic acinar 266-6 cells with an IFNAR inhibitor, which blocks the interaction between type I IFN and IFNAR, diminishes the downregulation of oxidative stress by polyI:C. Additionally, a subsequent transcriptome analysis on the role of polyI:C in treating pancreatitis suggested that chemotaxis of neutrophils and the production of ROS were inhibited by polyI:C in the pancreases damaged by caerulein injection. Thus, polyI:C may act as a type I IFN inducer to alleviate AP, and it has the potential to be a promising therapeutic agent used at the early stages of AP

The walnut transcription factor JrGRAS2 contributes to high temperature stress tolerance involving in Dof transcriptional regulation and HSP protein expression

Abstract Background GRAS transcription factor (TF) family is unique and numerous in higher plants with diverse functions that involving in plant growth and development processes, such as gibberellin (GA) signal transduction, root development, root nodule formation, and mycorrhiza formation. Walnut tree is exposed to various environmental stimulus that causing concern about its resistance mechanism. In order to understand the molecular mechanism of walnut to adversity response, a GRAS TF (JrGRAS2) was cloned and characterized from Juglans regia in this study. Results A 1500 bp promoter fragment of JrGRAS2 was identified from the genome of J. regia, in which the cis-elements were screened. This JrGRAS2 promoter displayed expression activity that was enhanced significantly by high temperature (HT) stress. Yeast one-hybrid assay, transient expression and chromatin immunoprecipitation (Chip)-PCR analysis revealed that JrDof3 could specifically bind to the DOFCOREZM motif and share similar expression patterns with JrGRAS2 under HT stress. The transcription of JrGRAS2 was induced by HT stress and up-regulated to 6.73-~11.96-fold in the leaf and 2.53-~4.50-fold in the root to control, respectively. JrGRAS2 was overexpressed in Arabidopsis, three lines with much high expression level of JrGRAS2 (S3, S7, and S8) were selected for HT stress tolerance analysis. Compared to the wild type (WT) Arabidopsis, S3, S7, and S8 exhibited enhanced seed germination rate, fresh weight accumulation, and activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) under HT stress. In contrast, the Evans blue staining, electrolyte leakage (EL) rates, hydrogen dioxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content of transgenic seedlings were all lower than those of WT exposed to HT stress. Furthermore, the expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in S3, S7, and S8 was significant higher than those in WT plants. The similar results were obtained in JrGRAS2 transient overexpression walnut lines under normal and HT stress conditions. Conclusions Our results suggested that JrDof3 TF contributes to improve the HT stress response of JrGRAS2, which could effectively control the expression of HSPs to enhance HT stress tolerance. JrGRAS2 is an useful candidate gene for heat response in plant molecular breeding

c-Abl Regulates Proteasome Abundance by Controlling the Ubiquitin-Proteasomal Degradation of PSMA7 Subunit

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is a vital proteolytic pathway required for cell homeostasis. However, the turnover mechanism of the proteasome subunit itself is still not understood. Here, we show that the 20S proteasome subunit PSMA7 is subjected to ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation, which was suppressed by PSMA7 phosphorylation at Y106 mediated by the nonreceptor tyrosine kinases c-Abl/Arg. BRCA1 specifically functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase of PSMA7 ubiquitination. c-Abl/Arg regulates cellular proteasome abundance by controlling the PSMA7 subunit supply. Downregulated PSMA7 level results in decreased proteasome abundance in c-Abl/Arg RNAi-knockdown or c-abl/arg-deficient cells, which demonstrated an increased sensitivity to proteasome inhibition. In response to oxidative stress, the c-Abl-mediated upregulation of proteasome level compensates for the proteasomal activity impairment induced by reactive oxygen species. Abl-kinases-regulated biogenesis and homeostasis of proteasome complexes may be important for understanding related diseases and pathological states

Azithromycin Protects against Zika virus Infection by Upregulating virus-induced Type I and III Interferon Responses.

Azithromycin (AZM) is a widely used antibiotic, with additional antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties that remain poorly understood. Although Zika virus (ZIKV) poses a significant threat to global health, there are currently no vaccines or effective therapeutics against it. Herein, we report that AZM effectively suppresses ZIKV infection in vitro by targeting a late stage in the viral life cycle. Besides that, AZM upregulates the expression of host type I and III interferons and several of their downstream interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in response to ZIKV infection. In particular, we found that AZM upregulates the expression of MDA5 and RIG-I, pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) induced by ZIKV infection, and increases the levels of phosphorylated TBK1 and IRF3. Interestingly, AZM treatment upregulates phosphorylation of TBK1, without inducing phosphorylation of IRF3 by itself. These findings highlight the potential use of AZM as a broad antiviral agent to combat viral infection and prevent ZIKV associated devastating clinical outcomes, such as congenital microcephaly