Development of an LCD-Based Visual Field System

Background: The present study investigated the diagnostic effectiveness of an LCD-based visual field testing system (LVF) in comparison with the standard automated perimetry Humphrey Field Analyzer II-750i (HFA). Methods: A randomized controlled crossover study was conducted with 202 normal and 128 glaucomatous eyes using both LVF and HFA. The visual field testing systems were compared in terms of mean deviation (MD), pattern standard deviation (PSD), and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) of MD and PSD differentiating the normal and glaucomatous eyes. Results: Significant correlations were found between MD measurements from LVF and those from HFA for normal eyes (r = 0.342) and glaucomatous eyes (r = 0.796); slightly higher significant correlations were identified between PSD measurements from LVF and those from HFA for normal eyes (r = 0.363) and glaucomatous eyes (r = 0.828). Furthermore, high AUCs of MD were found as 0.786 for LVF and 0.868 for HFA and AUCs of PSD as 0.913 for LVF and 0.932 for HFA. Conclusion: The comparison results of the present study support the competence of LVF compared with HFA in visual field testing for early detection of glaucoma.11Ysciescopuskc

The Detection Data Processing Mechanism for Vehicular Cyber Physical System in IoT Environment

With the development of the Internet of Things and big data technology, it was easy to collect personal situation information. The information collected in this way requires the user to support customized services via big data technology. However, traditional situational awareness systems request action through user cognition or provide consistent services for the specific purposes of multiple users. Therefore, this paper proposes a mechanism of Vehicular CPS with situational cognitive function that minimizes direct user intervention for user customization services. In this paper, we designed the system configuration and detailed process based on the scenario of the situation where the user is driving a car. A vector is used to provide a method for determining a dangerous water level by analyzing an abnormal state of a reception threshold with a sensor. The proposed system was analyzed by simulation. By using the authorization step that operates based on the sensor data, we were able to know that the reliability of the user is improved and that the reliable processing of the IoT service is possible. In the future, research for personal authentication and encryption is needed for more secure information processing

Unexpected Sudden Death of a 19-Year-Old Female with Congenital Single Coronary Artery Ostium during Exertion

Coronary artery anomalies are associated often with myocardial ischemia or sudden cardiac death. A 19-year-old woman who participated in an exertive game lost consciousness upon one such exertion. She was taken to a hospital where she died on the same day. An autopsy revealed that she had bifurcated coronary arteries, which arose from one coronary ostium in the left sinus of Valsalva. The right coronary artery arose from the left sinus and traveled between the aorta and the pulmonary trunk. The heart as well as the cardiac conduction system depended exclusively on the single coronary artery ostium for oxygenated blood supply, and the unbalanced blood distribution on her exertion probably led to sudden cardiac death. The case highlights the medicolegal importance of unexpected sudden cardiac death related to an anomalous origin of the coronary arteries

Design of Safety Assurance System of Specific Vehicle Information using ABPRE in the Fog Computing Environment

There would be high demand for technology that monitors illegal activity and detects risk with respect to vehicles on the road in a future urban traffic system, for accident prevention. However, there may be substantial overheads from the massive amount of data that would be required for the surveillance system as it would be automatically operated and used, as further advancements are made in sensor network technology and IoT (Internet of Things). In the transportation field, systems were mainly studied to measure the driver\u27s drowsiness or mobile phone use. These systems will collect information from several mobile devices at the same time, resulting in overhead of data. Fog computing reduces the overhead of data because it uses distributed proxy servers. However, security aspects were not considered. Encryption can be done to ensure the privacy of the information on the moving vehicles. However, in order to track a specific vehicle the data of the moving vehicles should be provided decrypted or decrypted by the secondary user. In this paper, to solve security aspects, we provide a new DSS model that utilizes ABPRE (Attribute Based Proxy Re-Encryption). The proposed system encrypts data sensed from moving vehicles. The cipher is configured to re-encrypt quickly at the proxy. The proposed method allows only users with access authority via secondary user\u27s properties to access data with attribute-based re-encryption. Therefore, safety is secured

The Development of Web3D-based Open-pit Mine Monitoring System

Large-scale open-pit mines are critical infrastructure for acquiring natural resources. However, this type of mine can experience environmental and safety problems during operations and thus requires continuous monitoring. In this study, a web three-dimensional(3D)-based monitoring system is constructed using geospatial information open platform and open-source geospatial information software which targets open-pit mines in Gangwon-do, Korea. The purpose is to develop a monitoring system of open-pit mines that enables any person to monitor the topographic and environmental changes caused by mine operations and to develop and restore the area’s ecology. Open-pit mines were classified into active or inactive mines and monitoring items and methodologies were established for each type of mine. Cesium which is a WebGL-based open-source platform was chosen as it supports dynamic data visualization and hardware-accelerated graphics related to elapsed time which is the essential factor in the monitoring. The open-pit mine monitoring system was developed based on the geospatial database which contains information required for mine monitoring as time elapses, and by developing the open-source-based system software. The geospatial information database for monitoring consists of digital imagery and terrain data and also includes vector data and the restoration plan datas. The basic geospatial information used in the monitoring includes high resolution ortho image(GSD 0.5 m or above) for all areas of the mines. This is acquired by periodically using an airborne laser scanning system and a LiDAR DEM (grid size 1m × 1 m). In addition, geospatial information data were acquired by using an UAV and terrestrial LiDAR for small-scale areas; these tools are frequently used for rapid and irregular data acquisition. The geospatial information acquired for the monitoring of the open-pit mines represents various spatial resolutions and different terrain data. The database was constructed by converging this geospatial information with the Cesium-based geospatial information open platform of the ESRI World Imagery map and with SDK World Terrain meshes. The problems that resulted from the process of fusing aerial imagery and terrain data were solved in the Cesium-based open source environment. The prototype menu for the monitoring system was designed according to the monitoring item which was determined by the type of mine. The scene of the mine and changes in terrain were controlled and analyzed using the raster function of PostGIS according to the elapsed time. Using the GeoServer, the aerial imagery, terrain and restoration information for each period were serviced using the web standard interface, and the monitoring system was completed by visualizing these elements in Cesium in 3D format according to the elapsed time. This study has established a monitoring methodology for open-pit mines according to the type of mine and proposes a method for upgrading the imagery and terrain data required for monitoring. The study also showed the possibility of developing a Web3D-based open-pit mine monitoring system that is applicable to a wide range of mashup service developments

A role of DNA-dependent protein kinase for the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase in response to glucose deprivation

AbstractThe catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) plays an essential role in double-strand break repair by initially recognizing and binding to DNA breaks. Here, we show that DNA-PKcs interacts with the regulatory γ1 subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a heterotrimeric enzyme that has been proposed to function as a “fuel gauge” to monitor changes in the energy status of cells and is controlled by the upstream kinases LKB1 and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase (CaMKK). In co-immunoprecipitation analyses, DNA-PKcs and AMPKγ1 interacted physically in DNA-PKcs-proficient M059K cells but not in DNA-PKcs-deficient M059J cells. Glucose deprivation-stimulated phosphorylation of AMPKα on Thr172 and of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), a downstream target of AMPK, is substantially reduced in M059J cells compared with M059K cells. The inhibition or down-regulation of DNA-PKcs by the DNA-PKcs inhibitors, wortmannin and Nu7441, or by DNA-PKcs siRNA caused a marked reduction in AMPK phosphorylation, AMPK activity, and ACC phosphorylation in response to glucose depletion in M059K, WI38, and IMR90 cells. In addition, DNA–DNA-PKcs−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) exhibited decreased AMPK activation in response to glucose-free conditions. Furthermore, the knockdown of DNA-PKcs led to the suppression of AMPK (Thr172) phosphorylation in LKB1-deficient HeLa cells under glucose deprivation. Taken together, these findings support the positive regulation of AMPK activation by DNA-PKcs under glucose-deprived conditions in mammalian cells

Anchoring Competition on Nanosurface Boundaries with Conflicting Mixed Nematic Anchoring Properties

We propose a technique for continuously controlling the full range of pretilt angles with a high process margin. The proposed method is characterized by tuning the thickness of a heterogeneous polyimide layer that consists of homeotropic and planar polyimides. The thickness of the mixture can be controlled by varying the concentration of the solvent. The liquid crystal (LC) pretilt generated at the very thin mixture film is insensitive to some incorrect mixing ratio, since the segregation of the depth direction of the mixture including the van der Waals effect in interactions with LCs decreases ultimately. Consequently, we can obtain continuous LC pretilt angles with a high process margin by controlling mixing ratio in a very thin heterogeneous polyimide film. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve excellent reliability, uniformity, and productivity using this technique. A simple mathematical model based on van der Waals interaction provides a good description of the experimental results

Cytoprotective effects of fermented oyster extracts against oxidative stress-induced DNA damage and apoptosis through activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts

Osteoblast damage by oxidative stress has been recognized as a cause of bone-related disease, including osteoporosis. Recently, we reported that fermented Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) extracts (FO) inhibited osteoclastogenesis and osteoporosis, while promoting osteogenesis. However, since the beneficial potential of FO on osteoblasts is not well known, in the present study, we investigated the cytoprotective effect of FO against oxidative stress in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Our results demonstrated that FO inhibited hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity through the rescue of mitochondrial function by blocking abnormal ROS accumulation. FO also prevented apoptosis by suppressing loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytosolic release of cytochrome c, decreasing the rate of Bax/Bcl-2 expression and reducing the activity of caspase-9 and caspase-3 in H2O2-stimulated MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts, suggesting that FO protected MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts from the induction of caspase dependent- and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis by oxidative stress. In addition, FO markedly promoted the activation of nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which was associated with the enhanced expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). However, inhibiting the expression of HO-1 by artificially blocking the expression of Nrf2 using siRNA significantly eliminated the protective effect of FO, indicating that FO activates the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts to protect against oxidative stress. Based on the present data, FO is thought to be useful as a potential therapeutic agent for the inhibition of oxidative stress in osteoblasts

Human AP endonuclease suppresses DNA mismatch repair activity leading to microsatellite instability

The multifunctional mammalian apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease (APE) participates in the repair of AP sites in the cellular DNA as well as participating in the redox regulation of the transcription factor function. The function of APE is considered as the rate-limiting step in DNA base excision repair. Paradoxically, an unbalanced increase in APE protein leads to genetic instability. Therefore, we investigated the mechanisms of genetic instability that are induced by APE. Here, we report that the overexpression of APE protein disrupts the repair of DNA mismatches, which results in microsatellite instability (MSI). We found that expression of APE protein led to the suppression of the repair of DNA mismatches in the normal human fibroblast cells. Western blot analysis revealed that hMSH6 protein was markedly reduced in the APE-expressing cells. Moreover, the addition of purified Mutα (MSH2 and MSH6 complex) to the extracts from the APE-expressing cells led to the restoration of mismatch repair (MMR) activity. By performing MMR activity assay and MSI analysis, we found that the co-expression of hMSH6 and APE exhibited the microsatellite stability, whereas the expression of APE alone generated the MSI-high phenotype. The APE-mediated decrease in MMR activity described here demonstrates the presence of a new and highly effective APE-mediated mechanism for MSI