Activity Recognition Using Gazed Text and Viewpoint Information for User Support Systems

The development of information technology has added many conveniences to our lives. On the other hand, however, we have to deal with various kinds of information, which can be a difficult task for elderly people or those who are not familiar with information devices. A technology to recognize each person’s activity and providing appropriate support based on that activity could be useful for such people. In this paper, we propose a novel fine-grained activity recognition method for user support systems that focuses on identifying the text at which a user is gazing, based on the idea that the content of the text is related to the activity of the user. It is necessary to keep in mind that the meaning of the text depends on its location. To tackle this problem, we propose the simultaneous use of a wearable device and fixed camera. To obtain the global location of the text, we perform image matching using the local features of the images obtained by these two devices. Then, we generate a feature vector based on this information and the content of the text. To show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we performed activity recognition experiments with six subjects in a laboratory environment

Verification of Thermal Comfort of Combined Convection-Radiation Air Conditioning System using Building Structure

Combined Convection-Radiation Air Conditioning System using Building Structure combines the advantages of TABS and convection air conditioning. In ordinary TABS, pipes are buried in the frame, but here pipes are laid on the lower (ceiling) surface of the floor slab. Also, jets from a Convection-enhancing Spot fan are sprayed toward the ceiling surface, promoting convection on the frame surface. This airflow promotes timely heat dissipation stored in the frame, and a micro-airflow environment can be formed in the living area. This paper aimed to verify thermal comfort and proper operation. Subjects were given simulated work of low to high metabolic rate, and were asked to report the thermal sensation and comfort in a micro-airflow environment. It was confirmed that comfort could be maintained even at a temperature higher than the general air-conditioning temperature, and an appropriate operating method according to the metabolic rate was elucidated.publishedVersio

The novel heart-specific RING finger protein 207 is involved in energy metabolism in cardiomyocytes

A failing heart shows severe energy insufficiency, and it is presumed that this energy shortage plays a critical role in the development of cardiac dysfunction. However, little is known about the mechanisms that cause energy metabolic alterations in the failing heart. Here, we show that the novel RING-finger protein 207 (RNF207), which is specifically expressed in the heart, plays a role in cardiac energy metabolism. Depletion of RNF207 in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCs) leads to a reduced cellular concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Consistent with this result, we observed here that the expression of RNF207 was significantly reduced in mice with common cardiac diseases including heart failure. Intriguingly, proteomic approaches revealed that RNF207 interacts with the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), which is considered to be a key regulator of mitochondria function, as an RNF207-interacting protein. Our findings indicate that RNF207 is involved in ATP production by cardiomyocytes, suggesting that RNF207 plays an important role in the development of heart failure

Crystal structure of human selenocysteine tRNA

Selenocysteine (Sec) is the 21st amino acid in translation. Sec tRNA (tRNASec) has an anticodon complementary to the UGA codon. We solved the crystal structure of human tRNASec. tRNASec has a 9-bp acceptor stem and a 4-bp T stem, in contrast with the 7-bp acceptor stem and the 5-bp T stem in the canonical tRNAs. The acceptor stem is kinked between the U6:U67 and G7:C66 base pairs, leading to a bent acceptor-T stem helix. tRNASec has a 6-bp D stem and a 4-nt D loop. The long D stem includes unique A14:U21 and G15:C20a pairs. The D-loop:T-loop interactions include the base pairs G18:U55 and U16:U59, and a unique base triple, U20:G19:C56. The extra arm comprises of a 6-bp stem and a 4-nt loop. Remarkably, the D stem and the extra arm do not form tertiary interactions in tRNASec. Instead, tRNASec has an open cavity, in place of the tertiary core of a canonical tRNA. The linker residues, A8 and U9, connecting the acceptor and D stems, are not involved in tertiary base pairing. Instead, U9 is stacked on the first base pair of the extra arm. These features might allow tRNASec to be the target of the Sec synthesis/incorporation machineries

Clonal evolution and clinical implications of genetic abnormalities in blastic transformation of chronic myeloid leukaemia

Blast crisis (BC) predicts dismal outcomes in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Although additional genetic alterations play a central role in BC, the landscape and prognostic impact of these alterations remain elusive. Here, we comprehensively investigate genetic abnormalities in 136 BC and 148 chronic phase (CP) samples obtained from 216 CML patients using exome and targeted sequencing. One or more genetic abnormalities are found in 126 (92.6%) out of the 136 BC patients, including the RUNX1-ETS2 fusion and NBEAL2 mutations. The number of genetic alterations increase during the transition from CP to BC, which is markedly suppressed by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The lineage of the BC and prior use of TKIs correlate with distinct molecular profiles. Notably, genetic alterations, rather than clinical variables, contribute to a better prediction of BC prognosis. In conclusion, genetic abnormalities can help predict clinical outcomes and can guide clinical decisions in CML

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Turbulent characteristics of the vertical wind velocity near the critical Richardson number

From analysis of the vertical wind velocity at two heights (3 and 30m) observed at Mizuho Station in Antarctica, intermittent turbulence was found under very stable conditions. In the range of gradient Richardson number from 0.2 up to about 2,wave-like flows with two groups of periods, in about the 10 and 20s, play a predominant role. Taking the behavior of such waves into account, the standard deviation and the skewness of the vertical wind velocity component were estimated