Dynamic All-Red Signal Control Based on Deep Neural Network Considering Red Light Runner Characteristics

Despite recent advances in technologies for intelligent transportation systems, the safety of intersection traffic is still threatened by traffic signal violation, called the Red Light Runner (RLR). The conventional approach to ensure the intersection safety under the threat of an RLR is to extend the length of the all-red signal when an RLR is detected. Therefore, the selection of all-red signal length is an important factor for intersection safety as well as traffic efficiency. In this paper, for better safety and efficiency of intersection traffic, we propose a framework for dynamic all-red signal control that adjusts the length of all-red signal time according to the driving characteristics of the detected RLR. In this work, we define RLRs into four different classes based on the clustering results using the Dynamic Time Wrapping (DTW) and the Hierarchical Clustering Analysis (HCA). The proposed system uses a Multi-Channel Deep Convolutional Neural Network (MC-DCNN) for online detection of RLR and also classification of RLR class. For dynamic all-red signal control, the proposed system uses a multi-level regression model to estimate the necessary all-red signal extension time more accurately and hence improves the overall intersection traffic safety as well as efficiency. © 2020 by the authors.1

Acupuncture Stimulation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Impairments of Spatial Memory and Cholinergic Neurons in Rats

The purpose of this study was to examine whether acupuncture improves spatial cognitive impairment induced by repeated corticosterone (CORT) administration in rats. The effect of acupuncture on the acetylcholinergic system was also investigated in the hippocampus. Male rats were subcutaneously injected with CORT (5 mg/kg) once daily for 21 days. Acupuncture stimulation was performed at the HT7 (Sinmun) acupoint for 5 min before CORT injection. HT7 acupoint is located at the end of transverse crease of ulnar wrist of forepaw. In CORT-treated rats, reduced spatial cognitive function was associated with significant increases in plasma CORT level (+36%) and hippocampal CORT level (+204%) compared with saline-treated rats. Acupuncture stimulation improved the escape latency for finding the platform in the Morris water maze. Consistently, the acupuncture significantly alleviated memory-associated decreases in cholinergic immunoreactivity and mRNA expression of BDNF and CREB in the hippocampus. These findings demonstrate that stimulation of HT7 acupoint produced significant neuroprotective activity against the neuronal impairment and memory dysfunction

Decrease in glucose transporter 1 levels and translocation of glucose transporter 3 in the dentate gyrus of C57BL/6 mice and gerbils with aging

In the present study, we compared the cell-specific expression and changes protein levels in the glucose transporters (GLUTs) 1 and 3, the major GLUTs in the mouse and gerbil brains using immuno-histochemistry and Western blot analysis. In both mouse and gerbils, GLUT1 immunoreactivity was mainly found in the blood vessels in the dentate gyrus, while GLUT3 immunoreactivity was detected in the subgranular zone and the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. GLUT1-immunoreactivity in blood vessels and GLUT1 protein levels were significantly decreased with age in the mice and gerbils, respectively. In addition, few GLUT3-immunoreactive cells were found in the subgranular zone in aged mice and gerbils, but GLUT3-immunoreactivity was abundantly found in the polymorphic layer of dentate gyrus in mice and gerbils with a dot-like pattern. Based on the double immunofluorescence study, GLUT3-immunoreactive structures in gerbils were localized in the glial fibrillary acidic protein-immunoreactive astrocytes in the dentate gyrus. Western blot analysis showed that GLUT3 expression in the hippocampal homogenates was slightly, although not significantly, decreased with age in mice and gerbils, respectively. These results indicate that the reduction in GLUT1 in the blood vessels of dentate gyrus and GLUT3 in the subgranular zone of dentate gyrus may be associated with the decrease in uptake of glucose into brain and neuroblasts in the dentate gyrus. In addition, the expression of GLUT3 in the astrocytes in polymorphic layer of dentate gyrus may be associated with metabolic changes in glucose in aged hippocampus.This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, No. NRF2015R1D1A3A01020635; by 2015 Research Grant from Kangwon National University. Conflict of interests The author

Fatigue Prediction of the Discharge Pipe in Reciprocating Compressor

In this paper, a fatigue prediction of the line discharge tube for reciprocating compressor being installed in a refrigerator was studied. The tube usually gets plenty of the repeated loads caused by the start and stop motion of a reciprocating compressor. There are two representative methods to predict the fatigue stress. At first the stress-life can be applied to the problem which takes a lot of repeated stress within the elastic strain range. Second is the strain-life method which can be used when it comes to the problem of a small repeated stress in the plastic strain range. This paper presents the stress-life method how the design parameters of a discharge pipe relate to the fatigue prediction and analyzes the co-relation between them

SIRT6 Depletion Suppresses Tumor Growth by Promoting Cellular Senescence Induced by DNA Damage in HCC

The role of Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) as a tumor suppressor or oncogene in liver cancer remains controversial. Thus, we identified the specific role of SIRT6 in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). SIRT6 expression was significantly higher in HCC cell lines and HCC tissues from 138 patients than in an immortalized hepatocyte cell line, THLE-2 and non-tumor tissues, respectively. SIRT6 knockdown by shRNA suppressed the growth of HCC cells and inhibited HCC tumor growth in vivo. In addition, SIRT6 silencing significantly prevented the growth of HCC cell lines by inducing cellular senescence in the p16/Rb- and p53/p21-pathway independent manners. Microarray analysis revealed that the expression of genes involved in nucleosome assembly was apparently altered in SIRT6-depleted Hep3B cells. SIRT6 knockdown promoted G2/M phase arrest and downregulation of genes encoding histone variants associated with nucleosome assembly, which could be attributed to DNA damage. Taken together, our findings suggest that SIRT6 acts as a tumor promoter by preventing DNA damage and cellular senescence, indicating that SIRT6 represents a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.11137Ysciescopu

Interleukin-2 induces the in vitro maturation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived intestinal organoids.

Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived intestinal organoids (hIOs) form 3D structures organized into crypt and villus domains, making them an excellent in vitro model system for studying human intestinal development and disease. However, hPSC-derived hIOs still require in vivo maturation to fully recapitulate adult intestine, with the mechanism of maturation remaining elusive. Here, we show that the co-culture with human T lymphocytes induce the in vitro maturation of hIOs, and identify STAT3-activating interleukin-2 (IL-2) as the major factor inducing maturation. hIOs exposed to IL-2 closely mimic the adult intestinal epithelium and have comparable expression levels of mature intestinal markers, as well as increased intestine-specific functional activities. Even after in vivo engraftment, in vitro-matured hIOs retain their maturation status. The results of our study demonstrate that STAT3 signaling can induce the maturation of hIOs in vitro, thereby circumventing the need for animal models and in vivo maturation

Calcified Carcinoma of the Gallbladder with Calcified Nodal Metastasis Presenting as a Porcelain Gallbladder: A Case Report

Porcelain gallbladder is regarded as a risk factor of gallbladder cancer. A porcelain gallbladder with calcified regional lymph nodes was found using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a 43-year-old man who presented with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. His cholecystectomy specimen showed diffuse wall thickening and contained small gallstones. Histological examination revealed diffuse infiltrative adenocarcinoma with extensive intratumoral calcification (calcified carcinoma). The majority of the calcified material was located within or replaced the tumor glands, and was not found in the stroma. A lymph node was totally replaced with a calcified metastatic adenocarcinoma. To the best of our knowledge, only one case of calcified lymph node metastasis from a calcified carcinoma of the gallbladder has been previously reported in the literature. We herein add a case of calcified carcinoma of the gallbladder with calcified lymph node metastasis, presenting as a porcelain gallbladder on CT and MRI

Sulforaphane Increases Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor, p21 Protein in Human Oral Carcinoma Cells and Nude Mouse Animal Model to Induce G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest

Previously, our group reported that sulforaphane (SFN), a naturally occurring chemopreventive agent from cruciferous vegetables, effectively inhibits the proliferation of KB and YD-10B human oral squamous carcinoma cells by causing apoptosis. In this study, treatment of 20 and 40 µM of SFN for 12 h caused a cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. Cell cycle arrest induced by SFN was associated with a significant increase in the p21 protein level and a decrease in cyclin B expression, but there was no change in the cyclin A protein level. In addition, SFN increased the p21 promoter activity significantly. Furthermore, SFN induced p21 protein expression in a nude mouse xenograft model suggesting that SFN is a potent inducer of the p21 protein in human oral squamous carcinoma cells. These findings show that SFN is a promising candidate for molecular-targeting chemotherapy against human oral squamous cell carcinoma