A novel illumination compensation scheme for sprite coding

Author name used in this publication: Dagan FengCentre for Multimedia Signal Processing, Department of Electronic and Information EngineeringRefereed conference paper2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

An improved algorithm for learning long-term dependency problems in adaptive processing of data structures

2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Therapeutic potential of allicin-rich garlic preparations: Emphasis on clinical evidence toward upcoming drugs formulation

Garlic has been used for a long time in human history. Allicin, the main active compound present in freshly injured garlic, is enzymatically formed from alliin. Allicin has shown doubtless beneficial effects and even be conceived as medicine. The present review highlights allicin-associated studies. Indeed, clinical studies on healthy subjects have evidenced that standardized garlic treatment (900 mg/day) significantly reduces total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (c-LDL). Besides, allicin also led to a marked improvement in mouth opening, burning sensation, and oral health-related quality of life on stage II oral submucous fibrosis patients. Interestingly, in children, allicin also has been proposed for thrush prevention and as an alternative antibiotic therapy. Nonetheless, there is particular attention to allicin bioavailability, given its high instability. Although clinical evidence has promoted allicin release from garlic powder tablets under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, garlic tablets are those that have provided less alliinase protection due to its fast disintegration, releasing low allicin amounts.Natália Martins would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT-Portugal) for the Strategic project ref. UID/BIM/04293/2013 and "NORTE2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte" (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012)

Inhibition of MicroRNA miR-222 with LNA Inhibitor Can Reduce Cell Proliferation in B Chronic Lymphoblastic Leukemia

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory molecules that negatively regulate gene expression by base-pairing with their target mRNAs. miRNAs have contribute significantly to cancer biology and recent studies have demonstrated the oncogenic or tumor-suppressing role in cancer cells. In many tumors up-regulation miRNAs has been reported especially miR-222 has been shown to be up-regulated in B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). In this study we assessed the effected inhibition of miR-222 in cell viability of B-CLL. We performed inhibition of mir-222 in B-CLL cell line (183-E95) using locked nucleic acid (LNA) antagomir. At different time points after LNA-anti-mir-222 transfection, miR-222 quantitation and cell viability were assessed by qRT-real time polymerase chain reaction and MTT assays. The data were analyzed by independent t test and one way ANOVA. Down-regulation of miR-222 in B-CLL cell line (183-E95) with LNA antagomir decreased cell viability in B-CLL. Cell viability gradually decreased over time as the viability of LNA-anti-mir transfected cells was <47 % of untreated cells at 72 h post-transfection. The difference in cell viability between LNA-anti-miR and control groups was statistically significant (p < 0.042). Based on our findings, the inhibition of miR-222 speculate represent a potential novel therapeutic approach for treatment of B-CLL

Identification of novel biomarker candidates by proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with moyamoya disease using SELDI-TOF-MS

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Moyamoya disease (MMD) is an uncommon cerebrovascular condition with unknown etiology characterized by slowly progressive stenosis or occlusion of the bilateral internal carotid arteries associated with an abnormal vascular network. MMD is a major cause of stroke, specifically in the younger population. Diagnosis is based on only radiological features as no other clinical data are available. The purpose of this study was to identify novel biomarker candidate proteins differentially expressed in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with MMD using proteomic analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>For detection of biomarkers, CSF samples were obtained from 20 patients with MMD and 12 control patients. Mass spectral data were generated by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) with an anion exchange chip in three different buffer conditions. After expression difference mapping was undertaken using the obtained protein profiles, a comparative analysis was performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A statistically significant number of proteins (34) were recognized as single biomarker candidate proteins which were differentially detected in the CSF of patients with MMD, compared to the control patients (p < 0.05). All peak intensity profiles of the biomarker candidates underwent classification and regression tree (CART) analysis to produce prediction models. Two important biomarkers could successfully classify the patients with MMD and control patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, several novel biomarker candidate proteins differentially expressed in the CSF of patients with MMD were identified by a recently developed proteomic approach. This is a pilot study of CSF proteomics for MMD using SELDI technology. These biomarker candidates have the potential to shed light on the underlying pathogenesis of MMD.</p

Natural products and synthetic analogs as a source of antitumor drugs

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease and one of the major issues of health concern, especially for the public health system globally. Nature is a source of anticancer drugs with abundant pool of diverse chemicals and pharmacologically active compounds. In recent decade, some natural products and synthetic analogs have been investigated for the cancer treatment. This article presents the utilization of natural products as a source of antitumor drugs.This work was supported by CONICYT PIA/APOYO CCTE AFB170007

Green Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles as Potent Antifungal Agent against Aspergillus terreus Thom

Medicinal plants are composed of a rich pool of biomolecules and have been increasingly recognized for their antimicrobial properties; however, increasing concerns have been put on the bioavailability features. Thus, this study is aimed at exploring the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized by Chenopodium album L. leaf extract and assessing the antifungal activity against Aspergillus terreus Thom. Plant extract was prepared in methanol to synthetize silver nanoparticles, which were then characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy, and particle size analysis. UV-Visible analysis indicated maximum absorption at 378 nm, and an average particle size was observed as 25.6 nm. Oval to hexagonal shape was observed by SEM. Antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5%) was addressed against A. terreus biomass. At 3.5%, silver nanoparticles revealed to be highly effective, leading to 92% retardation in fungus growth. In next phase, various organic fractions, viz., chloroform, n-butanol, n-hexane, and ethyl acetate, were obtained from plant methanol extract, and the corresponding silver nanoparticles were prepared. These fractions were also assessed for antifungal activity, and n-hexane fraction led to 64% inhibition in A. terreus biomass. Following gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 18 compounds were identified, namely, 1,3-cyclopentadiene-5-(1 methylethylidene and o-xylene), ethyl benzene, octadecane, nonane, decane, 2-methylheptane, n-hexadecane, 2-methylheptane, and eicosane, along with carbonyl compounds (4,4-dimethyl-3-hexanone) and phenols, like stearic acid, propionic acid hydrazide, and 2,4-di-T-butylphenol. These findings proved that C. album silver nanoparticles are highly effective against A. terreus.N.C.-M. acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Horizon 2020 Program (PTDC/PSI-GER/28076/2017)

An efficient method for generation of bi-allelic null mutant mouse embryonic stem cells and its application for investigating epigenetic modifiers.

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are a popular model system to study biological processes, though uncovering recessive phenotypes requires inactivating both alleles. Building upon resources from the International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC), we developed a targeting vector for second allele inactivation in conditional-ready IKMC 'knockout-first' ES cell lines. We applied our technology to several epigenetic regulators, recovering bi-allelic targeted clones with a high efficiency of 60% and used Flp recombinase to restore expression in two null cell lines to demonstrate how our system confirms causality through mutant phenotype reversion. We designed our strategy to select against re-targeting the 'knockout-first' allele and identify essential genes in ES cells, including the histone methyltransferase Setdb1. For confirmation, we exploited the flexibility of our system, enabling tamoxifen inducible conditional gene ablation while controlling for genetic background and tamoxifen effects. Setdb1 ablated ES cells exhibit severe growth inhibition, which is not rescued by exogenous Nanog expression or culturing in naive pluripotency '2i' media, suggesting that the self-renewal defect is mediated through pluripotency network independent pathways. Our strategy to generate null mutant mouse ES cells is applicable to thousands of genes and repurposes existing IKMC Intermediate Vectors

Phytochemicals in prostate cancer: From bioactive molecules to upcoming therapeutic agents

Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous disease, the second deadliest malignancy in men and the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men. Traditional plants have been applied to handle various diseases and to develop new drugs. Medicinal plants are potential sources of natural bioactive compounds that include alkaloids, phenolic compounds, terpenes, and steroids. Many of these naturally-occurring bioactive constituents possess promising chemopreventive properties. In this sense, the aim of the present review is to provide a detailed overview of the role of plant-derived phytochemicals in prostate cancers, including the contribution of plant extracts and its corresponding isolated compounds.This work was supported by CONICYT PIA/APOYO CCTE AFB170007. N. Martins would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT–Portugal) for the Strategic project ref. UID/BIM/04293/2013 and “NORTE2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte” (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012) and C. F. Rodrigues for the UID/EQU/00511/2019 Project—Laboratory of Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology, and Energy—LEPABE financed by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC)