Overexpression of cathepsin S exacerbates lupus pathogenesis through upregulation TLR7 and IFN-α in transgenic mice

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. Recent studies suggest relevance between cysteine protease cathepsin S (CTSS) expression and SLE. To investigate the mechanism of CTSS in SLE, CTSS-overexpressing transgenic (TG) mice were generated, and induced lupus-like symptoms. Eight months later, the TG mice spontaneously developed typical SLE symptoms regardless of the inducement. Furthermore, we observed increased toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) expression with increased monocyte and neutrophil populations in the TG mice. In conclusion, overexpression of CTSS in mice influences TLR7 expression, autoantibodies and IFN-α, which leads to an autoimmune reaction and exacerbates lupus-like symptoms. © 2021, The Author(s).1

Chemical Sensors Based on Highly Conductive Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Nanorods

PEDOT nanorods have been fabricated using reverse cylindrical micelle-mediated interfacial polymerization without any templates and applied as chemical sensors for the detection of HCl and NH3 vapor. The PEDOT nanorods, shown in the Figure, display very stable conductivity. The chemical sensors can detect low vapor concentrations and exhibit a reversible and reproducible response.This work has been financially supported by the Brain Korea 21 program of the Korean Ministry of Education and the Hyperstructured Organic Materials Research Center supported by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation

Sensing Behaviors of Polypyrrole Nanotubes Prepared in Reverse Microemulsions: Effects of Transducer Size and Transduction Mechanism

Polypyrrole (PPy) nanotubes with different diameters were readily fabricated using cylindrical micelle templates in sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse microemulsions. Interestingly, Raman spectroscopy and ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectroscopy revealed that the PPy nanotubes with smaller diameters had a more extended conjugation length as well as a higher oxidation level. The PPy nanotubes were deposited onto a microelectrode array and were exposed to chemical vapor and electromagnetic radiation: typically, NH3 vapor and UV light were chosen. The electrical response of PPy nanotubes to two different kinds of analytes was strongly dependent on their diameters. Moreover, since the small dimensions of PPy nanotubes facilitated the interaction between nanotubes and analytes, the PPy nanotube sensors showed conspicuously enhanced responses compared with conventional PPy.This work was financially supported by the Brain Korea 21 program of the Korean Ministry of Education, and the Hyperstructured Organic Materials Research Center is supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation

Effects of Solvent Vapor Annealing on Morphology and Charge Transport of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) Films Incorporated with Preformed P3HT Nanowires

We systematically studied the influence of solvent vapor annealing on the molecular ordering, morphologies, and charge transport properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin films embedded with preformed crystalline P3HT nanowires (NWs). Solvent vapor annealing (SVA) with chloroform (CF) was found to profoundly impact on the structural and morphological changes, and thus on the charge transport characteristics, of the P3HT-NW-embedded P3HT films. With increased annealing time, the density of crystalline P3HT NWs was increased within the resultant films, and also intra- and intermolecular interactions of the corresponding films were significantly improved. As a result, the P3HT-NW-embedded P3HT films annealed with CF vapor for 20 min resulted in a maximized charge carrier mobility of ~0.102 cm2 V−1 s−1, which is higher than that of pristine P3HT films by 4.4-fold (μ = ~0.023 cm2 V−1 s−1)

Spatiotemporally random and diverse grid cell spike patterns contribute to the transformation of grid cell to place cell in a neural network model.

The medial entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus are brain regions specialized in spatial information processing. While an animal navigates around an environment, grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex spike at multiple discrete locations, forming hexagonal grid patterns, and each grid cell is spatiotemporally dynamic with a different grid size, spacing, and orientation. In contrast, place cells in the hippocampus spike when an animal is at one or more specific locations, called a "place field". While an animal traverses through a place field, the place cell's spike phases relative to the hippocampal theta-frequency oscillation advance in phase, known as the "spike phase precession" phenomenon and each spike encodes the specific location within the place field. Interestingly, the medial entorhinal cortical grid cells and the hippocampal place cells are only one excitatory synapse apart. However, how the spatiotemporally dynamic multi-peaked grid cell activities are transformed into hippocampal place cell activities with spike phase precession phenomenon is yet unknown. To address this question, we construct an anatomically and physiologically realistic neural network model comprised of 10,000 grid cell models, each with a spatiotemporally dynamic grid patterns and a place cell model connected by excitatory synapses. Using this neural network model, we show that grid cells' spike activities with spatiotemporally random and diverse grid orientation, spacing, and phases as inputs to place cell are able to generate a place field with spike phase precession. These results indicate that spatiotemporally random and diverse grid cell spike activities are essential for the formation of place cell activity observed in vivo

Market growth strategies for sustainable smart farm: A correlation and causal relationship approach

Smart farms are integral to agriculture, evolving with technology while increasing energy consumption. Addressing issues like data scarcity is vital for smart farm-market growth. This study identified these issues and conducted an analysis of both correlation and causal relationship. Additionally, it created a growth strategy roadmap for the smart farm-market, tailored to stakeholders. To achieve carbon neutrality, government support, energy self-sufficiency tech, and energy reduction efforts are essential. These findings offer valuable guidance for policy formulation and operational planning, aiding the promotion of smart farm-market growth with sustainability in mind. In summary, smart farms are evolving alongside technology but face energy challenges, data issues, and the need for supportive policies and sustainable practices, all of which this study addresses to foster growth

Multiple congenital vascular anomalies in a lakeland terrier: computed tomographic angiographic evaluation

A 3-month-old intact male Lakeland terrier was presented with recurring regurgitation after removing cervicalesophageal foreign body by endoscopy. Blood and urine analysis, radiography, ultrasonography, fluoroscopicesophagography, computed tomographic angiography (CTA) were performed. In radiography and fluoroscopicesophagography, vascular ring anomaly was considered as the primary cause of megaesophagus, and CTA with gasinflationof the esophagus was performed. Compressed esophagus, persistent right aortic arch (PRAA), aberrant leftsubclavian artery (LSA), and a venous structure which was confirmed in surgery to be incomplete type persistent leftcranial vena cava (PLCVC) connected with the left side azygos vein were observed. Left deviation of the tracheawas also revealed in CT, which implies the compression by left ligamentum arteriosum. Therefore, type 3 PRAA withleft ligamentum arteriosum and aberrant LSA, was considered as a prior differential diagnosis. Surgical repair wasperformed and the clinical signs improved. This report describes CTA characteristics of combination of PRAA withaberrant LSA, incomplete PLCVC and Lt. azygos vein in a dog. Although not every vascular anomaly does induceclinical sign, some types can complicate the surgical procedure, and cause clinical signs. Therefore, thorough evaluationof vascular anomalies in the thorax is important, and CTA is a useful method in identifying multiple vascular anomaliesin dogs.OAIID:RECH_ACHV_DSTSH_NO:T201808554RECH_ACHV_FG:RR00200001ADJUST_YN:EMP_ID:A004776CITE_RATE:0DEPT_NM:수의학과EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:YN

Artificial neural network.

<p>There are three layers; an input layer, hidden layers, and an output layer. Inputs are inserted into the input layer, and each node provides an output value via an activation function. The outputs of the input layer are used as inputs to the next hidden layer.</p

Predictability of machine learning techniques to forecast the trends of market index prices: Hypothesis testing for the Korean stock markets

<div><p>The prediction of the trends of stocks and index prices is one of the important issues to market participants. Investors have set trading or fiscal strategies based on the trends, and considerable research in various academic fields has been studied to forecast financial markets. This study predicts the trends of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index 200 (KOSPI 200) prices using nonparametric machine learning models: artificial neural network, support vector machines with polynomial and radial basis function kernels. In addition, this study states controversial issues and tests hypotheses about the issues. Accordingly, our results are inconsistent with those of the precedent research, which are generally considered to have high prediction performance. Moreover, Google Trends proved that they are not effective factors in predicting the KOSPI 200 index prices in our frameworks. Furthermore, the ensemble methods did not improve the accuracy of the prediction.</p></div