β-defensin 1 expression in HCV infected liver/liver cancer: an important role in protecting HCV progression and liver cancer development

Abstract β-defensin family plays a role in host defense against viral infection, however its role in HCV infection is still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that β-defensin 1 was significantly reduced in HCV-infected liver specimens. Treatment with interferon and ribavirin upregulated β-defensin-1, but not other β-defensin tested, with the extent and duration of upregulation associated with treatment response. We investigated β-defensin family expression in liver cancer in publicly available datasets and found that among all the β-defensins tested, only β-defensin 1 was significantly downregulated, suggesting β-defensin 1 plays a crucial role in liver cancer development. Further analysis identified E-cadherin as the top positive correlated gene, while hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate as the top negative correlated gene. Expression of two proteoglycans were also positively correlated with that of β-defensin 1. We have also identified small molecules as potential therapeutic agents to reverse β-defensin 1-associated gene signature. Furthermore, the downregulation of β-defensin 1 and E-cadherin, and upregulation of hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate, were further confirmed in liver cancer and adjacent normal tissue collected from in-house Chinese liver cancer patients. Together, our results suggest β-defensin 1 plays an important role in protecting HCV progression and liver cancer development

Input effects across domains:The case of Greek subjects in child heritage language

A recurring question in the literature of heritage language acquisition, and more generally of bilingual acquisition, is whether all linguistic domains are sensitive to input reduction and to cross-linguistic influence and to what extent. According to the Interface Hypothesis, morphosyntactic phenomena regulated by discourse–pragmatic conditions are more likely to lead to non-native outcomes than strictly syntactic aspects of the language (Sorace, 2011). To test this hypothesis, we examined subject realization and placement in Greek–English bilingual children learning Greek as a heritage language in North America and investigated whether the amount of heritage language use can predict their performance in syntax–discourse and narrow syntactic contexts. Results indicated two deviations from the Interface Hypothesis: First, subject realization (a syntax–discourse phenomenon) was found to be largely unproblematic. Second, subject placement was affected not only in syntax–discourse structures but also in narrow syntactic structures, though to a lesser degree, suggesting that the association between the interface status of subject placement and its sensitivity to heritage language use among children heritage speakers is gradient rather than categorical

Markers of bacterial translocation in end-stage liver disease

Bacterial translocation (BT) refers to the passage of viable bacteria or bacterial products from the intestinal lumen, through the intestinal epithelium, into the systemic circulation and extraintestinal locations. The three principal mechanisms that are thought to be involved in BT include bacterial overgrowth, disruption of the gut mucosal barrier and an impaired host defence. BT is commonly observed in liver cirrhosis and has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of the complications of end stage liver disease, including infections as well as hepatic encephalopathy and hepatorenal syndrome. Due to the importance of BT in the natural history of cirrhosis, there is intense interest for the discovery of biomarkers of BT. To date, several such candidates have been proposed, which include bacterial DNA, soluble CD14, lipopolysaccharides endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, calprotectin and procalcitonin. Studies on the association of these markers with BT have demonstrated not only promising data but, oftentimes, contradictory results. As a consequence, currently, there is no optimal marker that may be used in clinical practice as a surrogate for the presence of BT. © 2015 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc

Multiple Hierarchical Dirichlet Processes for anomaly detection in traffic

This work introduces an unsupervised approach to scene analysis and anomaly detection in traffic video data, as captured from static surveillance cameras. A hybrid local-global scheme is introduced, so as to capture both local and global information, by extracting features in superpixel-generated spatiotemporal volumes, which are then merged into regions with dynamically varying boundaries. The resulting regions' shapes vary according to the underlying motion in the scene, as captured by the superpixels. Representative descriptors are then calculated in these regions, and multiple local Hierarchical Dirichlet Process (HDP) models are deployed in them, one for each region, for the unsupervised characterization of normal and "abnormal" events. The extraction of meaningful descriptors in these regions, instead of the whole frame, increases the resolution of the algorithm, while avoiding noise induced artifacts, and thus resulting in the successful detection of a wide range of "anomalies", both in the local and global scales. Experiments on benchmark datasets containing various scenarios in traffic scenes prove our method's efficacy and generality, leading to higher accuracy than the current State of the Art (SoA), and at a lower computational cost. Systematic quantitative experimental results and comparisons are provided on benchmark datasets, setting up a valuable baseline for future comparisons and improvements

Dynamic texture recognition and localization in machine vision for outdoor environments

This work focuses on detecting and localizing a wide range of dynamic textures in video sequences captured by surveillance cameras. Their reliable and robust analysis constitutes a challenging task for traditional computer vision methods, due to barriers like occlusions, the highly non-rigid nature of the moving entities and the complex stochastic nature of their motions. In order to address these issues, a novel hybrid framework is introduced, combining representations on both a local and global scale. A new, handcrafted local binary pattern (LBP)-flow descriptor with Fisher encoding is initially used to effectively capture low level texture dynamics, and a neural network (NN) is deployed after it to obtain a higher level, deeper and more effective representation scheme, capable of robustly discriminating even challenging dynamic texture classes. A novel localization scheme, based on multi-scale superpixel clustering is introduced, in order to detect texture patterns on local and global scales, inside and throughout sequential video frames. Experiments on various challenging benchmark datasets prove our method's efficacy and generality, as remarkable recognition and localization accuracy rates are achieved at a low computational cost, making it appropriate for real world outdoor applications

Fortification of chocolate using Moringa oleifera extract encapsulated in microemulsions

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the physical and antioxidant properties of microemulsions containing Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MLE) produced by the means of a deep eutectic solvent. Selected microemulsions containing MLE were incorporated in chocolate products to enrich them. Their color properties including CIE L∗, a∗, b∗ parameters and whitening index (WI) along with DPPH radical scavenging activity were assessed during a period of 8 months. The antioxidant activity of microemulsions depended on the oil phase used, while it was unaffected by the concentration of MLE. Samples prepared with soybean oil as oil phase containing MLE presented the highest radical inhibition percentage (I% = 26.8-27.8%). Coconut microemulsions were finally incorporated at 2 and 4% w/w concentration into chocolate products, as coconut oil is a known cocoa butter substitute. Although the incorporation of MLE microemulsions did not affect the color properties of most of the chocolates, enriched products did not exhibit superior antioxidant activity compared to control samples. © O. Kaltsa

The validity of current guidelines regarding surgical management of patients with gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms type 1: A report of a series of seven patients

Objective: Gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms type 1 (GEN type 1) are mostly localized indolent tumors, with only a minority developing lymph node or distant metastasis. Although they are usually managed conservatively, large, invasive, recurrent and grade 2 lesions may require surgical treatment. the aim of this case series is to evaluate the validity of current guidelines regarding surgical management of patients with GEN type 1. Cases: seven patients (5 female) with GEN type 1 underwent peri-gastric lymphadenectomy when at least one of the following criteria employed in previous guidelines was present: (i) multiple recurrent lesions, (ii) lesions with positive margins following endoscopic resection, (iii) lesions with malignant potential (deep gastric parietal wall invasion, lymph node enlargement, Ki67 proliferative index >2%), or (iv) presence of metastatic disease. Four patients met one and three two of the previously defined criteria; fifteen to thirty-six peri-gastric lymph nodes were resected. Following surgery there was no alteration in tumor staging status compared to pre-surgical staging. During a median follow-up of 34 months, all patients remain without any evidence of disease recurrence. Conclusion: Peri-gastric lymphadenectomy did not prove to be necessary for localized GEN type 1, neither for staging nor for therapeutical reasons. Further parameters need to be evaluated to identify the small subset of patients that will develop more aggressive disease

Polyphenol Extraction from Humulus lupulus (Hop) Using a Neoteric Glycerol/L-Alanine Deep Eutectic Solvent: Optimisation, Kinetics and the Effect of Ultrasound-Assisted Pretreatment

The investigation presented herein had as its scope the development of an integrated process for the efficient extraction of polyphenols from hop. For this purpose, a novel, natural deep eutectic solvent (DES) was synthesised, composed of glycerol and L-alanine, and the process was optimised by deploying a response surface methodology based on a Box–Behnken design. The variables considered were the DES/water proportion, the liquid-to-solid ratio and the stirring speed. Under the optimised conditions, the yield in total polyphenols achieved was 118.97 ± 8.27 mg gallic acid equivalents per g of dry mass. Ultrasonication, incorporated into the process as a pretreatment step, was shown to significantly change the kinetic pattern of polyphenol extraction and contributed to attaining higher yields only at 80◦ C, whereas at lower temperatures a supressing effect was observed. Furthermore, increasing temperature was negatively correlated with the second-order extraction rates, evidencing a slow-down of the extraction rate at elevated temperatures. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

A comparative study among landraces of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and P. coccineus L. based on molecular, physicochemical and sensory analysis for authenticity purposes

The common and runner beans are the two most widely cultivated species because of their highly nutritive value for humans and animals. This study was undertaken to interpret data from physicochemical, sensory and molecular (DNA) analyses toward evaluating, characterizing and separating 5 common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and 5 runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) landraces, cultivated under organic growing conditions. Furthermore, an attempt was made to determine patterns and interrelationships among the quality traits and sensory characteristics to get a better insight into the most effective discrimination between common and runner bean landraces, by means of multivariate analysis (Principal Component Analysis and Discriminant Analysis). In this study an accurate and effective discrimination of bean cultivars and Phaseolus species was possible using different methodologies. PCA was found to be the most informative either by using exclusively physicochemical data (92% of variability) or in conjunction with sensory data (99.4% of variability). P. vulgaris is characterized by 6 parameters (intensity, juiciness, sweetness, brightness, bitterness and consistency) whereas P. coccineus by odor, tenderness and metallic taste. Molecular analysis (MA) proved to be a fast and informative method only for discrimination of the Phaseolus species whereas (DA) highlighted the most important characteristics per cultivar and species. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved