Identification of Potential Therapeutic Targets Inducible Co-Stimulator (ICOS) in Cancer Immunotherapy Using Bioinformatics Analysis

Clinical trials testing Inducible Co-Stimulator (ICOS) agonists in cancers are under way. However, Co-expression and Interaction of ICOS at the Gene and Protein Levels, the correlations of ICOS to prognosis and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in different cancers remain unclear. ICOS expression was analyzed via the Oncomine database and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) site. Analysis of the expression difference of ICOS shows that the expression of ICOS is significantly increased in BRCA, ESCA, HNSC, KIRC, KIRP, LIHC, STAD and UCEC. We evaluated the influence of ICOS on clinical prognosis using Kaplan-Meier plotter and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). This analysis confirmed that low ICOS expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in ovarian cancer. The correlations between ICOS and cancer immune infiltrates were investigated via TIMER. Metascape and Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis suggest that ICOS plays an important role in the process of immune activation. ICOS is a potential target for the development of antibody drugs

Visual Tracking Using an Insect Vision Embedded Particle Filter

Particle filtering (PF) based object tracking algorithms have drawn great attention from lots of scholars. The core of PF is to predict the possible location of the target via the state transition model. One commonly adopted approach is resorting to prior motion cues under the smooth motion assumption, which performs well when the target moves with a relatively stable velocity. However, it would possibly fail if the target is undergoing abrupt motion. To address this problem, inspired by insect vision, we propose a simple yet effective visual tracking framework based on PF. Utilizing the neuronal computational model of the insect vision, we estimate the motion of the target in a novel way so as to refine the position state of propagated particles using more accurate transition mode. Furthermore, we design a novel sample optimization framework where local and global search strategies are jointly used. In addition, we propose a new method to monitor long duration severe occlusion and we could recover the target. Experiments on publicly available benchmark video sequences demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm outperforms the state-of-the art methods in challenging scenarios, especially for tracking target which is undergoing abrupt motion or fast movement.</jats:p

Reaction characteristics of waste coffee grounds chemical-looping gasification

Coffee grounds in chemical-looping gasification is an innovative handling approach of waste coffee grounds which couple the coffee grounds gasification and chemical looping technology together. By sol-gel method, the Fe4ATP6K1 compound oxygen carrier (OC) modified by KNO3 were prepared with Fe2O3 as an active component, natural attapugite (ATP) as an inert support. The effects of reaction temperature, steam flow as well as O/C molar ratio on coffee grounds in chemical looping gasification (CLG) were investigated in a fluidized bed using steam as gasification agent. It indicated that the Fe4ATP6K1 oxygen carrier could enhance the conversion of coffee grounds. Compared with SiO2 as bed material, the carbon conversion increased in CLG from 71.38% to 86.25%. The optimized conditions were presented as follows: the reaction temperature was 900°C, the water flow was 0.23 g·min-1, the O/C molar ratio was 1. Under these conditions, it was found that the average concentration of H2 reached a maximum value 52.75%, with the syngas production of 1.30 m3·kg-1 and H2 production of 83.79 g·kg-1, respectively. 20 redox cycles demonstrated that the Fe4ATP6K1 oxygen carrier has an excellent cyclic stability, the carbon conversion and cold gas efficiency were both above 75%, while the average gas concentration of gases were nearly stable

ELECTRICITY GENERATION CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ANAEROBIC FLUIDIZED BED MICROBIAL FUEL CELL

Anaerobic fluidized bed microbial fuel cell (AFBMFC) was developed to investigate the effect of fluidization behaviors on the electrogenesis capacity. Waste water and active carbon were used as liquid and solid phase, respectively. The fuel cell was started up successfully using anaerobic activated sludge as inoculums. The power density is increased with increasing circular liquid velocity up to 450 mW·m-2. High COD remove rate reached 93% after five days operation. Meanwhile, the effects of cathode area on the electrogenesis capacity of AFB MFC were also investigated

Using Integrative Analysis of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression Data in Multiple Tissue Types to Prioritize Candidate Genes for Drug Development in Obesity

Obesity has become a major public health issue which is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Genome-wide DNA methylation studies have identified that DNA methylation at Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine (CpG) sites are associated with obesity. However, subsequent functional validation of the results from these studies has been challenging given the high number of reported associations. In this study, we applied an integrative analysis approach, aiming to prioritize the drug development candidate genes from many associated CpGs. Association data was collected from previous genome-wide DNA methylation studies and combined using a sample-size-weighted strategy. Gene expression data in adipose tissues and enriched pathways of the affiliated genes were overlapped, to shortlist the associated CpGs. The CpGs with the most overlapping evidence were indicated as the most appropriate CpGs for future studies. Our results revealed that 119 CpGs were associated with obesity (p ≤ 1.03 × 10−7). Of the affiliated genes, SOCS3 was the only gene involved in all enriched pathways and was differentially expressed in both visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). In conclusion, our integrative analysis is an effective approach in highlighting the DNA methylation with the highest drug development relevance. SOCS3 may serve as a target for drug development of obesity and its complications

The effect of Matmo typhoon on mixed zone between the Yellow sea and Bohai sea

The results of remote sensing, buoy and profile based on measured data indicate that the wind speed, H-1/3 and salinity increased, sea surface temperature declined, and wind direction changed greatly during the transit of the Matmo typhoon on July 25. It was found that the typhoon transport the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass into the the Yellow and Bohai seas mixed zone

Tirzepatide ameliorates spatial learning and memory impairment through modulation of aberrant insulin resistance and inflammation response in diabetic rats

Background: One of the typical symptoms of diabetes mellitus patients was memory impairment, which was followed by gradual cognitive deterioration and for which there is no efficient treatment. The anti-diabetic incretin hormones glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) were demonstrated to have highly neuroprotective benefits in animal models of AD. We wanted to find out how the GLP-1/GIP dual agonist tirzepatide affected diabetes’s impairment of spatial learning memory.Methods: High fat diet and streptozotocin injection-induced diabetic rats were injected intraperitoneally with Tirzepatide (1.35 mg/kg) once a week. The protective effects were assessed using the Morris water maze test, immunofluorescence, and Western blot analysis. Golgi staining was adopted for quantified dendritic spines.Results: Tirzepatide significantly improved impaired glucose tolerance, fasting blood glucose level, and insulin level in diabetic rats. Then, tirzepatide dramatically alleviated spatial learning and memory impairment, inhibited Aβ accumulation, prevented structural damage, boosted the synthesis of synaptic proteins and increased dendritic spines formation in diabetic hippocampus. Furthermore, some aberrant changes in signal molecules concerning inflammation signaling pathways were normalized after tirzepatide treatment in diabetic rats. Finally, PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway was restored by tirzepatide.Conclusion: Tirzepatide obviously exerts a protective effect against spatial learning and memory impairment, potentially through regulating abnormal insulin resistance and inflammatory responses

The Ninth Visual Object Tracking VOT2021 Challenge Results

acceptedVersionPeer reviewe