InFusionSurf: Refining Neural RGB-D Surface Reconstruction Using Per-Frame Intrinsic Refinement and TSDF Fusion Prior Learning

We introduce InFusionSurf, a novel approach to enhance the fidelity of neural radiance field (NeRF) frameworks for 3D surface reconstruction using RGB-D video frames. Building upon previous methods that have employed feature encoding to improve optimization speed, we further improve the reconstruction quality with minimal impact on optimization time by refining depth information. Our per-frame intrinsic refinement scheme addresses frame-specific blurs caused by camera motion in each depth frame. Furthermore, InFusionSurf utilizes a classical real-time 3D surface reconstruction method, the truncated signed distance field (TSDF) Fusion, as prior knowledge to pretrain the feature grid to support reconstruction details while accelerating the training. The quantitative and qualitative experiments comparing the performances of InFusionSurf against prior work indicate that our method is capable of accurately reconstructing a scene without sacrificing optimization speed. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of our per-frame intrinsic refinement and TSDF Fusion prior learning techniques via an ablation study

Single-cell transcriptome of the mouse retinal pigment epithelium in response to a low-dose of doxorubicin

Single cell transcriptomics pinpoints a cell subpopulation that could be involved in inducing cellular senescence of the retinal pigment epithelium, which in turn may construe retinal degenerative disease. Cellular senescence of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is thought to play an important role in vision-threatening retinal degenerative diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, the single-cell RNA profiles of control RPE tissue and RPE tissue exhibiting cellular senescence are not well known. We have analyzed the single-cell transcriptomes of control mice and mice with low-dose doxorubicin (Dox)-induced RPE senescence (Dox-RPE). Our results have identified 4 main subpopulations in the control RPE that exhibit heterogeneous biological activities and play roles in ATP synthesis, cell mobility/differentiation, mRNA processing, and catalytic activity. In Dox-RPE mice, cellular senescence mainly occurs in the specific cluster, which has been characterized by catalytic activity in the control RPE. Furthermore, in the Dox-RPE mice, 6 genes that have not previously been associated with senescence also show altered expression in 4 clusters. Our results might serve as a useful reference for the study of control and senescent RPE

Mitochondrial Membrane Disrupting Molecules for Selective Killing of Senescent Cells

Cellular senescence, a stable form of cell cycle arrest, facilitates protection from tumorigenesis and aids in tissue repair as they accumulate in the body at an early age. However, long-term retention of senescent cells causes inflammation, aging of the tissue, and progression of deadly diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Various attempts have been made to achieve selective elimination of senescent cells from the body, yet little has been explored in designing the mitochondria-targeted senolytic agent. Many characteristics of senescence are associated with mitochondria. Here we have designed a library of alkyl-monoquaternary ammonium-triphenyl phosphine (TPP) and alkyl-diquaternary ammonium-TPP of varying alkyl chain lengths, which target the mitochondria; we also studied their senolytic properties. It was observed that the alkyl-diquaternary ammonium-TPP with the longest chain length induced apoptosis in senescent cells selectively via an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane disruption. This study demonstrates that mitochondria could be a potential target for designing new small molecules as senolytic agents for the treatment of a variety of dysfunctions associated with pathological aging

Wearable EEG electronics for a Brain–AI Closed-Loop System to enhance autonomous machine decision-making

© 2022, The Author(s).Human nonverbal communication tools are very ambiguous and difficult to transfer to machines or artificial intelligence (AI). If the AI understands the mental state behind a user’s decision, it can learn more appropriate decisions even in unclear situations. We introduce the Brain–AI Closed-Loop System (BACLoS), a wireless interaction platform that enables human brain wave analysis and transfers results to AI to verify and enhance AI decision-making. We developed a wireless earbud-like electroencephalography (EEG) measurement device, combined with tattoo-like electrodes and connectors, which enables continuous recording of high-quality EEG signals, especially the error-related potential (ErrP). The sensor measures the ErrP signals, which reflects the human cognitive consequences of an unpredicted machine response. The AI corrects or reinforces decisions depending on the presence or absence of the ErrP signals, which is determined by deep learning classification of the received EEG data. We demonstrate the BACLoS for AI-based machines, including autonomous driving vehicles, maze solvers, and assistant interfaces.11Nsciescopu

Discovery of Tricyclic Pyranochromenone as Novel Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors with In Vivo Antirheumatic Activity

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is an attractive target for treating patients with B cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Many BTK inhibitors have been identified; however, like other kinase inhibitors, they lack diversity in their core structures. Therefore, it is important to secure a novel scaffold that occupies the adenine-binding site of BTK. We screened an in-house library of natural products and their analogs via a biochemical assay to identify a novel scaffold for targeting BTK. A pyranochromenone scaffold, derived from a natural active component decursin, was found to be effective at targeting BTK and was selected for further optimization. A series of pyranochromenone analogs was synthesized through the modification of pyranochromenone at the C7 position. Pyranochromenone compounds with an electrophilic warhead exhibited promising BTK inhibitory activity, with IC50 values in the range of 0.5–0.9 µM. A docking study of the representative compound 8 provided a reasonable explanation for compound activity. Compound 8 demonstrated good selectivity over other associated kinases and decreased the production of proinflammatory cytokines in THP cells. Moreover, compound 8 presented significant in vivo efficacy in a murine model of collagen-induced arthritis

The Effect of a TLR4 Agonist/Cationic Liposome Adjuvant on Varicella-Zoster Virus Glycoprotein E Vaccine Efficacy: Antigen Presentation, Uptake, and Delivery to Lymph Nodes

Adjuvant CIA09, composed of 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP)-based cationic liposomes and the toll-like receptor 4 agonist de-O-acylated lipooligosaccharide (dLOS), has been shown to enhance antibody and cellular immune responses to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein E (gE), recombinant tuberculosis vaccine antigen, and inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine. In this study, we investigated its modes of action using VZV gE as a model antigen. Liposomes adsorbed gE and cooperatively with dLOS promoted endocytosis-mediated cellular uptake of gE by mouse dendritic cells in vitro. CIA09 increased the stability and cellular uptake of the antigen at the muscle site of injection, and induced immune cell recruitment and cytokine and chemokine production, which led to efficient antigen delivery to draining lymph nodes. Mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells, pulsed with CIA09-adjuvanted gE, efficiently presented gE to antigen-specific T cells, inducing Th1-type biased immunity, as shown by high IFN-γ production. The data indicate that liposomes and dLOS cooperate in the adjuvant activity of CIA09 by promoting antigen uptake and delivery to lymph nodes as well as antigen presentation to T cells

Development and validation of the quality care questionnaire –palliative care (QCQ-PC): patient-reported assessment of quality of palliative care

Abstract Background In this study, we aimed to develop and validate an instrument that could be used by patients with cancer to evaluate their quality of palliative care. Methods Development of the questionnaire followed the four-phase process: item generation and reduction, construction, pilot testing, and field testing. Based on the literature, we constructed a list of items for the quality of palliative care from 104 quality care issues divided into 14 subscales. We constructed scales of 43 items that only the cancer patients were asked to answer. Using relevance and feasibility criteria and pilot testing, we developed a 44-item questionnaire. To assess the sensitivity and validity of the questionnaire, we recruited 220 patients over 18 years of age from three Korean hospitals. Results Factor analysis of the data and fit statistics process resulted in the 4-factor, 32-item Quality Care Questionnaire-Palliative Care (QCQ-PC), which covers appropriate communication with health care professionals (ten items), discussing value of life and goals of care (nine items), support and counseling for needs of holistic care (seven items), and accessibility and sustainability of care (six items). All subscales and total scores showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha range, 0.89 to 0.97). Multi-trait scaling analysis showed good convergent (0.568–0.995) and discriminant (0.472–0.869) validity. The correlation between the total and subscale scores of QCQ-PC and those of EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL, MQOL, SAT-SF, and DCS was obtained. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the QCQ-PC can be adopted to assess the quality of care in patients with cancer