Orthonormal Expansion l1-Minimization Algorithms for Compressed Sensing

Compressed sensing aims at reconstructing sparse signals from significantly reduced number of samples, and a popular reconstruction approach is $\ell_1$-norm minimization. In this correspondence, a method called orthonormal expansion is presented to reformulate the basis pursuit problem for noiseless compressed sensing. Two algorithms are proposed based on convex optimization: one exactly solves the problem and the other is a relaxed version of the first one. The latter can be considered as a modified iterative soft thresholding algorithm and is easy to implement. Numerical simulation shows that, in dealing with noise-free measurements of sparse signals, the relaxed version is accurate, fast and competitive to the recent state-of-the-art algorithms. Its practical application is demonstrated in a more general case where signals of interest are approximately sparse and measurements are contaminated with noise.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Neuroprotective effect of apocynin nitrone in oxygen glucose deprivation-treated SH-SY5Y cells and rats with ischemic stroke

Purpose: To investigate the neuroprotective potential of apocynin nitrone (AN-1), a nitrone analogue of apocynin, in rat brain tissue as a novel candidate for ischemic stroke treatment.Methods: In vitro neuroprotection of AN-1 was studied in SH-SY5Y cells treated with oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD). Cell viability was measured using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2Htetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was investigated using flow cytometry. The protection of AN-1 in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) rats was evaluated by cerebral infarct area and neurological deficit score. Oxidative stress of the ischemic hemisphere was assessed by malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels.Results: In OGD-treated SH-SY5Y cells, AN-1 reduced cell death and ROS level. In I/R rats, AN-1 exerted potential protection against neurological deficit by reducing infarction area, decreasing neurological deficit score and relieving oxidative stress. AN-1 exhibited stronger action than its parent compound apocynin in vitro, but the two had similar effects in vivo. In addition, AN-1 demonstrated efficacy close to or higher than the positive reference Edaravone® both in vitro and in vivo.Furthermore, AN-1 showed lower toxicity than apocynin in vitro.Conclusion: The results suggest that AN-1 may be a potential neuroprotective agent for the treatment of ischemic stroke in human.Keywords: Apocynin nitrone, Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, Neuroprotection, Reactive oxygen species, Oxidative stres

2-(4-Chloro­phen­yl)-3-p-tolyl-1,3-thia­zolidin-4-one

The title compound, C16H14ClNOS, a potent anti­bacterial chemical, features a dihedral angle of 49.4 (1)° between the 4-tolyl and thia­zolidinone rings, and a dihedral angle of 87.2 (5)° between the thia­zolidinone and 4-chloro­phenyl rings

Heliaquanoids A–E, five sesquiterpenoid dimers from Inula helianthus-aquatica

Heliaquanoid A (1), the first exo-2,4-linked Diels−Alder adduct between a pseudoguaianolide dienophile and a guaianolide diene, and heliaquanoids B−E (2−5), four new 2,4-linked Diels−Alder adducts between a xanthanolide dienophile and a guaianolide diene, were isolated from stems and leaves of Inula helianthus-aquatica. Their structures were determined by the NMR spectroscopy, modified Mosher′s method, electronic circular dichroism, and X-ray diffraction analysis. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities against HL-60 cells with IC50 values of 7.5 and 4.9 μM, respectively

Nipah virus attachment glycoprotein ectodomain delivered by type 5 adenovirus vector elicits broad immune response against NiV and HeV

Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are newly emerging dangerous zoonotic pathogens of the Henipavirus genus of the Paramyxoviridae family. NiV and HeV (HNVs) which are transmitted by bats cause acute respiratory disease and fatal encephalitis in humans. To date, as there is a lack of antiviral drugs or effective antiviral therapies, the development of vaccines against those two viruses is of primary importance, and the immunogen design is crucial to the success of vaccines. In this study, the full-length protein (G), the ectodomain (Ge) and the head domain (Gs) of NiV attachment glycoprotein were delivered by the replication-defective type 5 adenovirus vector (Ad5) respectively, and the recombinant Ad5-NiV vaccine candidates (Ad5-NiVG, Ad5-NiVGe and Ad5-NiVGs) were constructed and their immunogenicity were evaluated in mice. The results showed that all the vaccine candidates stimulated specific humoral and cellular immune responses efficiently and rapidly against both NiV and HeV, and the Ad5-NiVGe elicited the strongest immune responses after a single-dose immunization. Furthermore, the potent conserved T-cell epitope DTLYFPAVGFL shared by NiV and HeV was identified in the study, which may provide valid information on the mechanism of HNVs-specific cellular immunity. In summary, this study demonstrates that the Ad5-NiVGe could be a potent vaccine candidate against HNVs by inducing robust humoral and cellular immune responses

Multiple Origins of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype Asia 1 Outbreaks, 2003–2007

Viruses in 6 genetic groups have caused recent outbreaks in Asia

Psoriasis Regression Analysis of MHC Loci Identifies Shared Genetic Variants with Vitiligo

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease with genetic components of both immune system and the epidermis. PSOR1 locus (6q21) has been strongly associated with psoriasis; however, it is difficult to identify additional independent association due to strong linkage disequilibrium in the MHC region. We performed stepwise regression analyses of more than 3,000 SNPs in the MHC region genotyped using Human 610-Quad (Illumina) in 1,139 cases with psoriasis and 1,132 controls of Han Chinese population to search for additional independent association. With four regression models obtained, two SNPs rs9468925 in HLA-C/HLA-B and rs2858881 in HLA-DQA2 were repeatedly selected in all models, suggesting that multiple loci outside PSOR1 locus were associated with psoriasis. More importantly we find that rs9468925 in HLA-C/HLA-B is associated with both psoriasis and vitiligo, providing first important evidence that two major skin diseases share a common genetic locus in the MHC, and a basis for elucidating the molecular mechanism of skin disorders

Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes journaltitle: Cell articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.05.046 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Inc

Gastroprotective Activity of the Total Flavones from Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic Flowers

Background. Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic flower is a medicinal plant for the treatment of diseases in China. The present study was carried out to scientifically validate the gastroprotective activity and clarify the possible mechanism of the total flavones from Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic flowers (TFA). Methods. Gastric ulcer was induced in mice by oral administration of ethanol. The gastroprotective activity of TFA was evaluated by the gastric ulcer index and histological examinations. The gastric tissue was collected in the form of homogenate. The level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH), the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and protein content were measured. Western blotting for the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, TNF-α, and NF-κB(p65) was also carried out. The effect of TFA was compared with that of standard antiulcer drug omeprazole (100 mg/kg). Results. This gastroprotective effect of TFA could be attributed to the increase in the activity of SOD and GSH and decrease in the levels of MDA and also decrease in the levels of Bax, TNF-α, and NF-κB(p65) expressions and increase in the Bcl-2 expression level. Conclusion. The findings of this study demonstrated that TFA could significantly attenuate ethanol-induced gastric injury via antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects