Statistical Analysis of Shape and Texture in 3D Medical Images for Computer-Aided Diagnosis

立命館大学博士(工学)doctoral thesi

Simplified Method and Influence Factors of Vibration Characteristics of Isolated Curved Girder Bridge

The isolated curved girder bridge's vibration characteristics play a major part in the seismic responses of structures and anti-seismic properties. A clear analytic relationship between design parameters and the system's vibration characteristics could be established by its simplified dynamic analysis model, making it convenient for providing a reference to the optimization of design and safety analysis. A double-mass six-degree-of-freedom model for curved girder bridges with isolation bearings installed at the top of the bridge piers is built and a simplified analysis method for the vibration characteristics of the system is provided. Combined with the Matlab programming, the influences of radius of curvature, central angle, bridge deck width and damping ratio of the isolation layer and circular frequency of the isolation layer of isolated curved girder bridges on the pseudo-undamped natural circular frequency (called pseudo-frequency for short) and system damping ratio are systematically analyzed, and the sensitivity of vibration characteristics of isolated curved girder bridges is studied. The results show that the vibration characteristics of isolated curved girder bridges can be reflected well with this simplified model and calculation method. The pseudo-frequency of curved girder and system damping ratios increases with the increase of the isolation layer. The third-order vibration characteristic is more sensitive to the parameters of a curved girder, and the first-order vibration characteristic is sensitive to both central angle and radius of curvature to some extent while insensitive to the width of the bridge deck. Furthermore, the second-order vibration characteristic is not sensitive to the parameters of a curved girder

Anti-overturning stability coefficient of curved girder bridges considering seismic action

To overcome the limitation of terrain and ground objects, curved girder bridges normally adopt a single column pier, on which a single bearing or double bearings with small spacing are seated, making it weak in anti-overturning ability under eccentric load. Presently, the vehicle centrifugal force and seismic action are rarely considered when calculating the anti-overturning stability and tend to aggravate the deflection of curved girder bridges. In this paper, a calculation method is proposed to determine the anti-overturning stability coefficient under earthquake; the calculating equation of anti-overturning stability coefficient under static action is modified. The results show that the influence of centrifugal force cannot be neglected. Otherwise, the calculation of overturning stability is unsafe. The anti-overturning stability of curved girder bridges under earthquake is lower than that under static action. Further, the effect of different structural parameters on the anti-overturning stability coefficient under static and seismic action is similar: the anti-overturning stability coefficient decreases with the growth of bridge deck width, while first decreases sharply and then increases slowly with the growth of curvature radius

Earliest ceramic drainage system and the formation of hydro-sociality in monsoonal East Asia

The earliest ceramic drainage system unearthed at the Pingliangtai site on the Central Plains of China represents an unprecedented social and environmental manipulation as societies faced surging environmental crises in the Late Holocene East Asian Monsoon region. Here we present results of excavation and a geoarchaeological survey of the water-management infrastructures and environment which reveal the operation and maintenance of a well-planned and regulated two-tiered drainage system. Rather than a ‘centralized hierarchy’, the drainage activities were mainly practised at household and communal levels, through which Pingliangtai society was drawn to more pragmatic aspects of social governance. Through their emphasis on spatial uniformity, cooperation in public affairs, and a series of technological innovations, water management at Pingliangtai gravitated to collective shared interest as the society responded to recurrent environmental contingencies. Such a pragmatic focus on public affairs constituted a previously unrecognized, alternative pathway to the development of power structure and social governance on the Central Plains regimes in late Neolithic and later times

Clinical significance of circulating tumor cells in predicating the outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer

Background: Relapse and metastasis of patients with Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is the major obstacle to the long-term life of patients. Its mechanisms remain defined. Methods: A total of 48 CRC patients were enrolled and 68 samples were obtained from the peripheral blood of patients before or after treatments in this study. Twenty non-cancer patients were also detected as a negative control. Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), including Epithelial CTCs (eCTCs), Mesenchymal (MCTCs), and epithelial/mesenchymal mixed phenotypes (mixed CTCs), were identified by CanPatrolTM CTC enrichment and RNA in situ hybridization. The relationship between CTCs number and Progression-Free Survival (PFS) or Overall Survival (OS) was evaluated. Results: Thirty-four of 48 patients (70.8%) were found to have positive CTCs. Total CTCs and MCTCs in the post-treatment had a significant correlation PFS and OS. When total CTCs or MCTCs in 5 mL blood of patients were more than 6 CTCs or 5 MCTCs, PFS of the patients was significantly shorter (p < 0.05) than that in patients with less than 6 CTCs or 5 MCTCs. The patients with > 5 CTCs count changes were found to exhibit poor PFS and OS rates (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Total CTCs and MCTCs number detection in patients with colorectal cancer was very useful biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients. Higher CTCs or MCTCs had poorer PFS and OS rates

Relationship between histone demethylase LSD family and development and prognosis of gastric cancer

Objectiveto elucidate the correlation between histone demethylase and gastric cancerResearch objecthistone demethylase and gastric cancerResultsAs one of the important regulatory mechanisms in molecular biology and epigenetics, histone modification plays an important role in gastric cancer including downstream gene expression regulation and epigenetics effect. Both histone methyltransferase and histone demethylases are involved in the formation and maintaining different of histone methylation status, which in turn through a variety of vital molecules and signaling pathways involved in the recognition of histone methylation modification caused by the downstream biological process, eventually participate in the regulation of chromatin function, and with a variety of important physiological activities, especially closely related to the occurrence of gastric cancer and embryonic development.ConclusionThis paper intends to review the research progress in this field from the aspects of histone methylation modification and the protein structure, catalytic mechanism and biological function of the important histone demethylases LSD1 and LSD2, in order to provide the theoretical reference for further understanding and exploration of histone demethylases in development and prognosis of gastric cancer

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

Gene Expression Profiling of Lacrimal Glands Identifies the Ectopic Expression of MHC II on Glandular Cells as a Presymptomatic Feature in a Mouse Model of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

Ectopic expression of MHC II molecules on glandular cells is a feature of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). However, the cause of this ectopic expression and its potential role in the pathogenesis of the disease remains elusive. Here, we report that ectopic expression of MHC II molecules on glandular cells represents an early presymptomatic event in a mouse model of pSS induced by immunization of Ro60_316-335 peptide emulsified in TiterMax® as an adjuvant. Ectopic expression of MHC II was induced by TiterMax® but not by complete freund's adjuvant (CFA). Furthermore, immunization with Ro60_316-335 peptide emulsified in TiterMax®, but not in CFA, induced a pSS-like disease in mice. Our results suggests that ectopic expression of MHC II molecules on glandular cells represents a presymptomatic feature of pSS and that such ectopic expression can be induced by exogenous factors. In addition, this study also provides a novel mechanism how adjuvants can amplify immune responses

The amino acid variation within the binding pocket 7 and 9 of HLA-DRB1 molecules are associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome

在这篇论文当中，郑俊峰博士领导的课题小组发现在人白细胞抗原二类基因（HLA-II）中，HLA-DRB1*0803是中国南方原发干燥综合征易感基因。进一步通过结构生物信息学模拟DRB1*0803 分子结构并分析，发现HLA的抗原肽结合槽口袋9的表面电势的不同，可能是疾病易感性差异的分子基础。自身免疫病是由遗传因素和环境因素共同导致的疾病，在遗传因素里，HLA位点是很多自身免疫病的主要易感基因。但是，尽管HLA和自身免疫病的相关性非常明确，这种相关背后的机理还不清楚。这项关于HLA和干燥综合征相关性的研究在这一问题上做出了探索性的发现，对HLA和干燥综合征的相关的机制提出了新的观点。该成果也是自身免疫学实验室在干燥综合征方向上陆续发表的第4篇学术论文。Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is associated with HLA-DRB1 loci, but the association of amino acid variations in the hypervariable region of the HLA-DR β1 chain with pSS is largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to identify the amino acid variations within the hypervariable region of HLA-DRB1 molecule which are associated with the susceptibility to pSS. We sequenced the 2nd exon of the HLA-DRB1 locus in 52 pSS patients and 179 controls. The HLA-DRB1*0803 is the allele that shows the strongest association with pSS in Chinese population (OR = 3.0, P = 2.4 × 10 −4 ). Furthermore, amino acid variations within the binding pocket P7 and P9 are associated with the susceptibility to pSS. An interaction between two residues within P7, β47 and β67, is associated with pSS. Structural modeling studies demonstrated that the electrostatics of peptide binding pocket 9 are opposite in pSS-susceptible and -protective HLA-DRB1 alleles. In conclusion, our results suggest that structural heterogeneity of the HLA-DRB1 peptide binding pocket P7 and P9 might play a role in the pathogenesis of pSS