The morphology of diaphragmatic defects in hepatic hydrothorax: Thoracoscopic finding

BackgroundUntil now, the pathophysiology of hepatic hydrothorax has been moot. We discuss (on the basis of gross videothoracoscopy findings in 11 cases and the literature) the pathogenesis and clinical presentation of this complex condition.MethodsWe prospectively studied 11 patients (age, 31–73 years; 6 men and 5 women) with refractory hepatic hydrothorax (Child-Pugh class B-C) who underwent thoracoscopic repair of diaphragmatic defects. The diaphragmatic defects were examined intraoperatively.ResultsThe diaphragmatic defects stemming from hepatic hydrothorax were classified into 4 morphologic types: type I, no obvious defect (1 patient); type II, blebs lying on the diaphragm (4 patients); type III, broken defects (fenestrations) in the diaphragm (8 patients); and type IV, multiple gaps in the diaphragm (1 patient). The type of diaphragmatic defect did not correlate with the volume occupied by the pleural effusion in the preoperative chest radiograms.ConclusionsThe finding of this study allowed hepatic hydrothorax pathophysiology to be directly visualized, and further studies concerning the treatment of hepatic hydrothorax might be based on these mechanisms

Performance of Energy Efficient Relaying for Cluster-Based Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper proposes a novel energy efficient data relaying scheme to improve energy efficiency for cluster-based wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In order to reduce the energy dissipation of transmitting sensing data at each sensor, the fixed clustering algorithm uniformly divides the sensing area into clusters where the cluster head is deployed to the centered of the cluster area. Moreover, to perform energy efficient data relaying fixed clustering (EERFC), the cluster head is deployed as close to the sink as possible. Simulation results show that proposed EERFC definitely reduces the energy consumption of the sensors and it can further efficiently relay the cluster data

Ontology-based Fuzzy Markup Language Agent for Student and Robot Co-Learning

An intelligent robot agent based on domain ontology, machine learning mechanism, and Fuzzy Markup Language (FML) for students and robot co-learning is presented in this paper. The machine-human co-learning model is established to help various students learn the mathematical concepts based on their learning ability and performance. Meanwhile, the robot acts as a teacher's assistant to co-learn with children in the class. The FML-based knowledge base and rule base are embedded in the robot so that the teachers can get feedback from the robot on whether students make progress or not. Next, we inferred students' learning performance based on learning content's difficulty and students' ability, concentration level, as well as teamwork sprit in the class. Experimental results show that learning with the robot is helpful for disadvantaged and below-basic children. Moreover, the accuracy of the intelligent FML-based agent for student learning is increased after machine learning mechanism.Comment: This paper is submitted to IEEE WCCI 2018 Conference for revie

Motor neuron-derived Thsd7a is essential for zebrafish vascular development via the Notch-dll4 signaling pathway.

BackgroundDevelopment of neural and vascular systems displays astonishing similarities among vertebrates. This parallelism is under a precise control of complex guidance signals and neurovascular interactions. Previously, our group identified a highly conserved neural protein called thrombospondin type I domain containing 7A (THSD7A). Soluble THSD7A promoted and guided endothelial cell migration, tube formation and sprouting. In addition, we showed that thsd7a could be detected in the nervous system and was required for intersegmental vessels (ISV) patterning during zebrafish development. However, the exact origin of THSD7A and its effect on neurovascular interaction remains unclear.ResultsIn this study, we discovered that zebrafish thsd7a was expressed in the primary motor neurons. Knockdown of Thsd7a disrupted normal primary motor neuron formation and ISV sprouting in the Tg(kdr:EGFP/mnx1:TagRFP) double transgenic zebrafish. Interestingly, we found that Thsd7a morphants displayed distinct phenotypes that are very similar to the loss of Notch-delta like 4 (dll4) signaling. Transcript profiling further revealed that expression levels of notch1b and its downstream targets, vegfr2/3 and nrarpb, were down-regulated in the Thsd7a morphants. These data supported that zebrafish Thsd7a could regulate angiogenic sprouting via Notch-dll4 signaling during development.ConclusionsOur results suggested that motor neuron-derived Thsd7a plays a significant role in neurovascular interactions. Thsd7a could regulate ISV angiogenesis via Notch-dll4 signaling. Thus, Thsd7a is a potent angioneurin involved in the development of both neural and vascular systems

An Automatic Indirect Immunofluorescence Cell Segmentation System

Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) with HEp-2 cells has been used for the detection of antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) in systemic autoimmune diseases. The ANA testing allows us to scan a broad range of autoantibody entities and to describe them by distinct fluorescence patterns. Automatic inspection for fluorescence patterns in an IIF image can assist physicians, without relevant experience, in making correct diagnosis. How to segment the cells from an IIF image is essential in developing an automatic inspection system for ANA testing. This paper focuses on the cell detection and segmentation; an efficient method is proposed for automatically detecting the cells with fluorescence pattern in an IIF image. Cell culture is a process in which cells grow under control. Cell counting technology plays an important role in measuring the cell density in a culture tank. Moreover, assessing medium suitability, determining population doubling times, and monitoring cell growth in cultures all require a means of quantifying cell population. The proposed method also can be used to count the cells from an image taken under a fluorescence microscope

Regulation of CLC-1 chloride channel biosynthesis by FKBP8 and Hsp90β.

Mutations in human CLC-1 chloride channel are associated with the skeletal muscle disorder myotonia congenita. The disease-causing mutant A531V manifests enhanced proteasomal degradation of CLC-1. We recently found that CLC-1 degradation is mediated by cullin 4 ubiquitin ligase complex. It is currently unclear how quality control and protein degradation systems coordinate with each other to process the biosynthesis of CLC-1. Herein we aim to ascertain the molecular nature of the protein quality control system for CLC-1. We identified three CLC-1-interacting proteins that are well-known heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90)-associated co-chaperones: FK506-binding protein 8 (FKBP8), activator of Hsp90 ATPase homolog 1 (Aha1), and Hsp70/Hsp90 organizing protein (HOP). These co-chaperones promote both the protein level and the functional expression of CLC-1 wild-type and A531V mutant. CLC-1 biosynthesis is also facilitated by the molecular chaperones Hsc70 and Hsp90β. The protein stability of CLC-1 is notably increased by FKBP8 and the Hsp90β inhibitor 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) that substantially suppresses cullin 4 expression. We further confirmed that cullin 4 may interact with Hsp90β and FKBP8. Our data are consistent with the idea that FKBP8 and Hsp90β play an essential role in the late phase of CLC-1 quality control by dynamically coordinating protein folding and degradation

Efficient (k, n) : threshold secret sharing method with cheater prevention for QR code application

To protect secret message, secret sharing technique divides it into n shares and distributes them to n involved participants. However, it is hardly to prevent a dishonest participant to cheat other by providing a fake share. To overcome this weakness, this paper presents an efficient (k, n)-threshold secret sharing approach with the functionality of cheater identification using meaningful QR codes. The secret message would be split into k pieces, and used as the coefficients of polynomial function to generate n shares. These shares would be concealed into cover QR codes based on its fault tolerance to generate meaningful QR code shares. The meaningful QR code shares are helpful to reduce the curiosity of unrelated persons when transmitted in public channel. The legitimacy of QR code share would be verified before secret reconstruction to prevent cheater in secret revealing procedure. Some experiments were done to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme is efficient, highly secure and highly robust, and it also achieves a higher embedding capacity compared to previous methods

Cloning, purification, and functional characterization of Carocin S2, a ribonuclease bacteriocin produced by Pectobacterium carotovorum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most isolates of <it>Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum </it>(Pcc) produce bacteriocins. In this study, we have determined that Pcc strain F-rif-18 has a chromosomal gene encoding the low-molecular-weight bacteriocin, Carocin S2, and that this bacteriocin inhibits the growth of a closely related strain. Carocin S2 is inducible by ultraviolet radiation but not by mutagenic agents such as mitomycin C.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A carocin S2-defective mutant, TF1-2, was obtained by Tn5 insertional mutagenesis using F-rif-18. A 5706-bp DNA fragment was detected by Southern blotting, selected from a genomic DNA library, and cloned to the vector, pMS2KI. Two adjacent complete open reading frames within pMS2KI were sequenced, characterized, and identified as caroS2K and caroS2I, which respectively encode the killing protein and immunity protein. Notably, carocin S2 could be expressed not only in the mutant TF1-2 but also in <it>Escherichia coli </it>DH5α after entry of the plasmid pMS2KI. Furthermore, the C-terminal domain of CaroS2K was homologous to the nuclease domains of colicin D and klebicin D. Moreover, SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the relative mass of CaroS2K was 85 kDa and that of CaroS2I was 10 kDa.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study shown that another nuclease type of bacteriocin was found in <it>Pectobacterium carotovorum</it>. This new type of bacteriocin, Carocin S2, has the ribonuclease activity of CaroS2K and the immunity protein activity of CaroS2I.</p