Tradition and Art Appreciation: A Boost to Cultural Tourism in Nigeria

It is abysmal and disheartening to observe that Nigeria is depleted of parts of its cultural treasury to looters. It is delighted to deduce that these assets (tradition and art) are indispensable to our cultural pride and are potential assets to tourism, which has recently become world�s �gold mine�. The paper examines the implications of non-challant attitudes of Nigerians toward cultural preservation which adversely perch on our cultural bearing and disposition. It suggests solutions to some upheavals been faced by cultural tourism in Nigeria. It further unveils the deception and antics used by foreigners to dispossess us of our cultural heritage, which is consequently repackaged and sold back to us at extortionate prices. This study endeavors to document the inventory of some museums in Nigeria. In essence, the earlier Nigerians realize this, the better for us to start to reap the unflinching prospects inherent in our cultural heritage and endowment. The paper recommends that there is need for individual citizens to develop profound interest in Nigeria�s cultural heritage for development of tourism industry via cultural assets, so as to generate substantial foreign exchange earnings, accelerate rural urban development, generate employment and promote local cultural exchange for national unity and identity.&nbsp

Developing an EEG-based on-line closed-loop lapse detection and mitigation system

© 2014 Wang, Huang, Wei, Huang, Ko, Lin, Cheng and Jung. In America, 60% of adults reported that they have driven a motor vehicle while feeling drowsy, and at least 15-20% of fatal car accidents are fatigue-related. This study translates previous laboratory-oriented neurophysiological research to design, develop, and test an On-line Closed-loop Lapse Detection and Mitigation (OCLDM) System featuring a mobile wireless dry-sensor EEG headgear and a cell-phone based real-time EEG processing platform. Eleven subjects participated in an event-related lane-keeping task, in which they were instructed to manipulate a randomly deviated, fixed-speed cruising car on a 4-lane highway. This was simulated in a 1st person view with an 8-screen and 8-projector immersive virtual-reality environment. When the subjects experienced lapses or failed to respond to events during the experiment, auditory warning was delivered to rectify the performance decrements. However, the arousing auditory signals were not always effective. The EEG spectra exhibited statistically significant differences between effective and ineffective arousing signals, suggesting that EEG spectra could be used as a countermeasure of the efficacy of arousing signals. In this on-line pilot study, the proposed OCLDM System was able to continuously detect EEG signatures of fatigue, deliver arousing warning to subjects suffering momentary cognitive lapses, and assess the efficacy of the warning in near real-time to rectify cognitive lapses. The on-line testing results of the OCLDM System validated the efficacy of the arousing signals in improving subjects' response times to the subsequent lane-departure events. This study may lead to a practical on-line lapse detection and mitigation system in real-world environments

Single channel wireless EEG device for real-time fatigue level detection

© 2015 IEEE. Driver fatigue problem is one of the important factors of traffic accidents. Recent years, many research had investigated that using EEG signals can effectively detect driver's drowsiness level. However, real-time monitoring system is required to apply these fatigue level detection techniques in the practical application, especially in the real-road driving. Therefore, it required less channels, portable and wireless, real-time monitoring and processing techniques for developing the real-time monitoring system. In this study, we develop a single channel wireless EEG device which can real-time detect driver's fatigue level on the mobile device such as smart phone or tablet. The developed device is investigated to obtain a better and precise understanding of brain activities of mental fatigue under driving, which is of great benefit for devolvement of detection of driving fatigue system. This system consists of a Bluetooth-enabled one channel EEG, a regression model, and smartphone, which was a platform recording and transforming the raw EEG data to useful driving status. In the experiment, this was a sustained-attention driving task to implement in a virtual-reality (VR) driving simulator. To training model and develop the system, we were performed for 15 subjects to study Electroencephalography (EEG) brain dynamics by using a mobile and wireless EEG device. Based on the outstanding training results, the leave-one-subject-out cross validation test obtained 90% fatigue detection accuracy. These results indicate that the combination of a smartphone and wireless EEG device constitutes an effective and easy wearable solution for detecting and preventing driver fatigue in real driving environments

Nuclear-Targeted Deleted in Liver Cancer 1 (DLC1) Is Less Efficient in Exerting Its Tumor Suppressive Activity Both In Vitro and In Vivo

BACKGROUND: Deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) serves as an important RhoGTPase activating protein (RhoGAP) protein that terminates active RhoA signaling in human cancers. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that the tumor suppressive activity of DLC1 depends not only on RhoGAP activity, but also relies on proper focal adhesion localization through its interaction with tensin family proteins. Recently, there are reports showing that DLC1 can also be found in the nucleus; however, the existence and the relative tumor suppressive activity of nuclear DLC1 have never been clearly addressed. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We herein provide new evidence that DLC1 protein, which predominantly associated with focal adhesions and localized in cytosol, dynamically shuttled between cytoplasm and nucleus. Treatment of cells with nuclear export blocker, Leptomycin B (LMB), retained DLC1 in the nucleus. To understand the nuclear entry of DLC1, we identified amino acids 600-700 of DLC1 as a novel region that is important for its nuclear localization. The tumor suppressive activity of nuclear DLC1 was directly assessed by employing a nuclear localization signal (NLS) fusion variant of DLC1 (NLS-DLC1) with preferential nuclear localization. In SMMC-7721 HCC cells, expression of NLS-DLC1 failed to suppress colony formation and actin stress fiber formation in vitro. The abrogated tumor suppressive activity of nuclear DLC1 was demonstrated for the first time in vivo by subcutaneously injecting p53(-/-) RasV12 hepatoblasts with stable NLS-DLC1 expression in nude mice. The injected hepatoblasts with NLS-DLC1 expression effectively formed tumors when compared with the non-nuclear targeted DLC1. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study identified a novel region responsible for the nuclear entry of DLC1 and demonstrated the functional difference of DLC1 in different cellular compartments both in vitro and in vivo

Deleted in Liver Cancer 1 (DLC1) Utilizes a Novel Binding Site for Tensin2 PTB Domain Interaction and Is Required for Tumor-Suppressive Function

Background: Deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) is a Rho GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) frequently deleted and underexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as well as in other cancers. Recent independent studies have shown interaction of DLC1 with members of the tensin focal adhesion protein family in a Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain-dependent mechanism. DLC1 and tensins interact and co-localize to punctate structures at focal adhesions. However, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between DLC1 and various tensins remain controversial. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a co-immunoprecipitation assay to identify a previously undocumented binding site at 375-385 of DLC1 that predominantly interacted with the phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domain of tensin2. DLC1-tensin2 interaction is completely abolished in a DLC1 mutant lacking this novel PTB binding site (DLC1ΔPTB). However, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence and co-immunoprecipitation, neither the focal adhesion localization nor the interaction with tensin1 and C-terminal tensin-like (cten) were affected. Interestingly, the functional significance of this novel site was exhibited by the partial reduction of the RhoGAP activity, which, in turn, attenuated the growth-suppressive activity of DLC1 upon its removal from DLC1. Conclusions/Significance: This study has provided new evidence that DLC1 also interacts with tensin2 in a PTB domain-dependent manner. In addition to properly localizing focal adhesions and preserving RhoGAP activity, DLC1 interaction with tensin2 through this novel focal adhesion binding site contributes to the growth-suppressive activity of DLC1. © 2009 Chan et al.published_or_final_versio

The Evolving Transcriptome of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies were performed to illuminate mechanisms of tumorigenesis and metastases from gene expression profiles of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). The objective of this review is to conduct a network-based meta-analysis to identify the underlying biological signatures of the HNSCC transcriptome. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We included 63 HNSCC transcriptomic studies into three specific categories of comparisons: Pre, premalignant lesions v.s. normal; TvN, primary tumors v.s. normal; and Meta, metastatic or invasive v.s. primary tumors. Reported genes extracted from the literature were systematically analyzed. Participation of differential gene activities across three progressive stages deciphered the evolving nature of HNSCC. In total, 1442 genes were verified, i.e. reported at least twice, with ECM1, EMP1, CXCL10 and POSTN shown to be highly reported across all three stages. Knowledge-based networks of the HNSCC transcriptome were constructed, demonstrating integrin signaling and antigen presentation pathways as highly enriched. Notably, functional estimates derived from topological characteristics of integrin signaling networks identified such important genes as ITGA3 and ITGA5, which were supported by findings of invasiveness in vitro. Moreover, we computed genome-wide probabilities of reporting differential gene activities for the Pre, TvN, and Meta stages, respectively. Results highlighted chromosomal regions of 6p21, 19p13 and 19q13, where genomic alterations were shown to be correlated with the nodal status of HNSCC. CONCLUSIONS: By means of a systems-biology approach via network-based meta-analyses, we provided a deeper insight into the evolving nature of the HNSCC transcriptome. Enriched canonical signaling pathways, hot-spots of transcriptional profiles across the genome, as well as topologically significant genes derived from network analyses were highlighted for each of the three progressive stages, Pre, TvN, and Meta, respectively

Psychometric testing of three Chinese online-related addictive behavior instruments among Hong Kong university students

Objective: To validate the Chinese version of the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scales- Short Form (IGDS-SF9), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS) among Hong Kong university students. Participants and Methods: Participants aged between 17 and 30 years participated in the present study (n=307; 32.4% males; mean [SD] age=21.64 [8.11]). All the participants completed the IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, SABAS, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were used to examine the factorial structures and the unidimensionality for IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS. Results: CFAs demonstrated that the three scales were all unidimensional with satisfactory fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.969 to 0.992. In addition, the IGDS-SF9 and BSMAS were slightly modified based on the modification index in CFA. Conclusions: The Chinese IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS are valid instruments to assess the addiction levels of internet-related activities for Hong Kong university students

Minimum Criteria for DNA Damage-Induced Phase Advances in Circadian Rhythms

Robust oscillatory behaviors are common features of circadian and cell cycle rhythms. These cyclic processes, however, behave distinctively in terms of their periods and phases in response to external influences such as light, temperature, nutrients, etc. Nevertheless, several links have been found between these two oscillators. Cell division cycles gated by the circadian clock have been observed since the late 1950s. On the other hand, ionizing radiation (IR) treatments cause cells to undergo a DNA damage response, which leads to phase shifts (mostly advances) in circadian rhythms. Circadian gating of the cell cycle can be attributed to the cell cycle inhibitor kinase Wee1 (which is regulated by the heterodimeric circadian clock transcription factor, BMAL1/CLK), and possibly in conjunction with other cell cycle components that are known to be regulated by the circadian clock (i.e., c-Myc and cyclin D1). It has also been shown that DNA damage-induced activation of the cell cycle regulator, Chk2, leads to phosphorylation and destruction of a circadian clock component (i.e., PER1 in Mus or FRQ in Neurospora crassa). However, the molecular mechanism underlying how DNA damage causes predominantly phase advances in the circadian clock remains unknown. In order to address this question, we employ mathematical modeling to simulate different phase response curves (PRCs) from either dexamethasone (Dex) or IR treatment experiments. Dex is known to synchronize circadian rhythms in cell culture and may generate both phase advances and delays. We observe unique phase responses with minimum delays of the circadian clock upon DNA damage when two criteria are met: (1) existence of an autocatalytic positive feedback mechanism in addition to the time-delayed negative feedback loop in the clock system and (2) Chk2-dependent phosphorylation and degradation of PERs that are not bound to BMAL1/CLK

HVOF-Deposited WCCoCr as Replacement for Hard Cr in Landing Gear Actuators

WCCoCr coatings deposited by HVOF can replace hard Cr on landing gear components. Powders with two different WC particle sizes (micro and nano-) and geometries have been employed to study the effects on the coating’s properties. Moreover, coatings produced employing two sets of parameters resulting in high and low flame temperatures have been evaluated. Minor differences in microstructure and morphology were observed for the two powders employing the same spraying parameters, but the nano-sized powder exhibited a higher spraying efficiency. However, more significant microstructural changes result when the low- and high-energy spray parameters are used. Moreover, results of various tests which include adhesion, wear, salt fog corrosion resistance, liquid immersion, and axial fatigue strength, indicate that the coatings produced with high-energy flame are similar in behavior. On the other hand, the nanostructured low-energy flame coating exhibited a significantly lower salt fog corrosion resistanc