PERCEPTION FIELD FOR A MOBILE DEVICE TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME DEPTH ESTIMATION FOR DETECTED OBJECTS

A mobile computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, camera, tablet computer, wearable and/or headset device) may include an integrated display device (e.g., a presence-sensitive screen) at which a user interface is presented to provide perception field functionality, which enables real-time depth estimation for static or moving objects that are detected by the mobile computing device based on sensory input from an onboard camera. In various examples, this functionality may be embodied in a portable and flexible library (e.g. Android library) that is installed on the mobile computing device. The purpose of perception field monitoring is to provide fast and efficient algorithms for spatial object mapping to enable real-time distance estimation of static and moving objects on a mobile computing device. The implementation of these algorithms may provide spatial location information of targeted objects, as well as distance information associated with objects that are detected by the device. In certain cases, mobile applications executing on the device may utilize such information to provide assistance to visually impaired users by creating audible alerts

Liposome-based polymer complex as a novel adjuvant: enhancement of specific antibody production and isotype switch

The aim of vaccination is to induce appropriate immunity against pathogens. Antibody-mediated immunity is critical for protection against many virus diseases, although it is becoming more evident that coordinated, multifunctional immune responses lead to the most effective defense. Specific antibody (Ab) isotypes are more efficient at protecting against pathogen invasion in different locations in the body. For example, compared to other Ab isotypes, immunoglobulin (Ig) A provides more protection at mucosal areas. In this study, we developed a cationic lipopolymer (liposome-polyethylene glycol-polyethyleneimine complex [LPPC]) adjuvant that strongly adsorbs antigens or immunomodulators onto its surface to enhance or switch immune responses. The results demonstrate that LPPC enhances uptake ability, surface marker expression, proinflammatory cytokine release, and antigen presentation in mouse phagocytes. In contrast to Freund’s adjuvant, LPPC preferentially activates Th1- immunity against antigens in vivo. With lipopolysaccharides or CpG oligodeoxynucleotides, LPPC dramatically enhances the IgA or IgG2A proportion of total Ig, even in hosts that have developed Th2 immunities and high IgG1 serum titers. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the LPPC adjuvant not only increases the immunogenicity of antigens but also modulates host immunity to produce an appropriate Ab isotype by combining with immunomodulators

Efficacy and toxicities of doxorubicin plus ifosfamide in the second-line treatment of uterine leiomyosarcoma

PurposeUterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare and aggressive tumor known for its drug resistance and metastatic potential. The standard first-line treatment typically involves anthracycline-based chemotherapy or a combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel; however, there is currently no established second-line treatment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of doxorubicin plus ifosfamide as a potential second-line treatment for uterine leiomyosarcoma.Materials and methodsThis is a retrospective, single-center, single-arm study. We reviewed the tumor registry data from January 2010 to December 2022 and identified patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma who had previously received first-line salvage or adjuvant treatment involving gemcitabine and taxotere, and later experienced tumor recurrence. Patients who met these criteria were included in the study. The primary endpoint was the efficacy of doxorubicin and ifosfamide as a second-line treatment for uterine leiomyosarcoma, as measured by progression-free survival, 1-year overall survival, and response rate. The secondary endpoint was the adverse events associated with this regimen.ResultsFifty-two patients were diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma during the study period, nine of whom were included in the data analysis. All patients had previously received gemcitabine-docetaxel as first-line adjuvant therapy, with a median progression-free survival period of 8.4 months. Doxorubicin-ifosfamide was administered as second-line treatment, with a median progression-free survival of 6.0 months (range: 2.7-79.9 months). The clinical benefit rate of the second-line treatment was 66.7%, with a median overall survival of 33.0 months, and a 1-year overall survival rate of 83.3%. Previous reports have shown that the median progression-free survival for second-line treatments using other regimens ranged from 1.4-5.6 months. The most common adverse event was myelosuppression, with five patients requiring granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and one patient requiring a blood transfusion. No patient discontinued treatment due to unmanageable adverse events.ConclusionUse of doxorubicin with ifosfamide may be a promising and reasonable second-line treatment with manageable adverse events for patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma

Oct-4 Expression Maintained Cancer Stem-Like Properties in Lung Cancer-Derived CD133-Positive Cells

CD133 (prominin-1), a 5-transmembrane glycoprotein, has recently been considered to be an important marker that represents the subset population of cancer stem-like cells. Herein we report the isolation of CD133-positive cells (LC-CD133+) and CD133-negative cells (LC-CD133−) from tissue samples of ten patients with non-small cell lung cancer (LC) and five LC cell lines. LC-CD133+ displayed higher Oct-4 expressions with the ability to self-renew and may represent a reservoir with proliferative potential for generating lung cancer cells. Furthermore, LC-CD133+, unlike LC-CD133−, highly co-expressed the multiple drug-resistant marker ABCG2 and showed significant resistance to chemotherapy agents (i.e., cisplatin, etoposide, doxorubicin, and paclitaxel) and radiotherapy. The treatment of Oct-4 siRNA with lentiviral vector can specifically block the capability of LC-CD133+ to form spheres and can further facilitate LC-CD133+ to differentiate into LC-CD133−. In addition, knock-down of Oct-4 expression in LC-CD133+ can significantly inhibit the abilities of tumor invasion and colony formation, and increase apoptotic activities of caspase 3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Finally, in vitro and in vivo studies further confirm that the treatment effect of chemoradiotherapy for LC-CD133+ can be improved by the treatment of Oct-4 siRNA. In conclusion, we demonstrated that Oct-4 expression plays a crucial role in maintaining the self-renewing, cancer stem-like, and chemoradioresistant properties of LC-CD133+. Future research is warranted regarding the up-regulated expression of Oct-4 in LC-CD133+ and malignant lung cancer

The 3D conformation of the representative segment for each alphabet letter

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Protein structure search and local structure characterization"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/9/349</p><p>BMC Bioinformatics 2008;9():349-349.</p><p>Published online 22 Aug 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2529324.</p><p></p

Designing a biochip following multiplex polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Salmonella serovars Typhimurium, Enteritidis, Infantis, Hadar, and Virchow in poultry products

Salmonella-contaminated foods, especially poultry-derived foods (eggs, chicken meat), are the major source of salmonellosis. Not only in the European Union (EU), but also in the United States, Japan, and other countries, has salmonellosis been an issue of concern for food safety control agencies. In 2005, EU regulation 1003/2005 set a target for the control and reduction of five target Salmonella enterica serovars—S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, S. Infantis, S. Hadar, and S. Virchow—in breeding flocks. Thus, a simple biochip for the rapid detection of any of these five Salmonella serovars in poultry products may be required. The objectives of this study were to design S. Virchow-specific primers and to develop a biochip for the simultaneous identification of all or any of these five Salmonella serovars in poultry and poultry products. Experimentally, we designed novel polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers for the specific detection of S. Virchow, S. Infantis, and S. Hadar. The specificity of all these primers and two known primer sets for S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis was then confirmed under the same PCR conditions using 57 target strains and 112 nontarget Salmonella strains as well as 103 non-Salmonella strains. Following multiplex PCR, strains of any of these five Salmonella serovars could be detected by a chromogenic biochip deployed with DNA probes specific to these five Salmonella serovars. In comparison with the multiplex PCR methods, the biochip assay could improve the detection limit of each of the Salmonella serovars from N×103 cfu/mL to N×102 cfu/mL sample in either the pure culture or the chicken meat samples. With an 8-hour enrichment step, the detection limit could reach up to N×100 cfu/mL

Correction: Effects of Low Dose Metformin on Metabolic Traits in Clozapine-Treated Schizophrenia Patients: An Exploratory Twelve-Week Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168347.]