Blockchain-based network concept model for reliable and accessible fine dust management system at construction sites

In total, 44.3% of particle matter 10 (PM10) is fugitive dust, and one of the main sources of fugitive dust generation in Korea is construction work (22%). Construction sites account for 84% of the total business places that have reported fugitive dust generation. Currently, the concentration of fine dust at construction sites is being remotely monitored by government inspection agencies through IoT sensors, but it is difficult to trust that appropriate fine dust reduction measures are being taken, because contractors can avoid taking these measures by submitting false reports or photos. In addition, since the fine dust monitoring system under government management is not an open platform and centralized system, residents near construction sites encounter difficulties in accessing information about fine dust. Therefore, in this study, we designed and constructed a blockchain network model to transparently and reliably provide network participants with the information associated with IoT data and fine dust reduction measures. To operate the blockchain network, we designed the chaincode, DApp, and network architecture. In addition, information on fine dust concentration and reduction measure photos were shared with the participants via the blockchain search tool (Hyperledger Explorer). The proposed blockchain network is expected to form a trust protocol among contractors, government inspection agencies, and citizens

Design of GPU Based Non-coherent Signal Tracking Module for Real-time GNSS SDR

In this paper, we design and implement GPU-based non-coherent GPS signal tracking module for real-time SDR. When using CPU and GPU simultaneously, the signal tracking module should be designed considering the memory bottleneck between the two processors. The basic non-coherent module, which accumulates the 1msec correlation value 20 times, is changed to accumulate M(20/N) times of Nmsec units. From the experiments using real GPS signals, the computational performance of N=20 is improved by 80% compared to N=1. Therefore, the implemented SDR using notebook computer can tracks more channels simultaneously in the real time

Epigallocatechin gallate has pleiotropic effects on transmembrane signaling by altering the embedding of transmembrane domains

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the principal bioactive ingredient in green tea and has been reported to have many health benefits. EGCG influences multiple signal transduction pathways related to human diseases, including redox, inflammation, cell cycle, and cell adhesion pathways. However, the molecular mechanisms of these varying effects are unclear, limiting further development and utilization of EGCG as a pharmaceutical compound. Here, we examined the effect of EGCG on two representative transmembrane signaling receptors, integrinαIIbβ3 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). We report that EGCG inhibits talin-induced integrin αIIbβ3 activation, but it activates αIIbβ3 in the absence of talin both in a purified system and in cells. This apparent paradox was explained by the fact that the activation state of αIIbβ3 is tightly regulated by the topology of β3 transmembrane domain (TMD); increases or decreases in TMD embedding can activate integrins. Talin increases the embedding of integrin β3 TMD, resulting in integrin activation, whereas we observed here that EGCG decreases the embedding, thus opposing talin-induced integrin activation. In the absence of talin, EGCG decreases the TMD embedding, which can also disrupt the integrin α-β TMD interaction, leading to integrin activation. EGCG exhibited similar paradoxical behavior in EGFR signaling. EGCG alters the topology of EGFR TMD and activates the receptor in the absence of EGF, but inhibits EGF-induced EGFR activation. Thus, this widely ingested polyphenol exhibits pleiotropic effects on transmembrane signaling by modifying the topology of TMDs

Magnetization-tagged MRI is a simple method for predicting liver fibrosis

Background/Aims:To assess the usefulness of magnetization-tagged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in quantifying cardiac-induced liver motion and deformation in order to predict liver fibrosis. Methods:This retrospective study included 85 patients who underwent liver MRI including magnetization-tagged sequences from April 2010 to August 2010. Tagged images were acquired in three coronal and three sagittal planes encompassing both the liver and heart. A Gabor filter bank was used to measure the maximum value of displacement (MaxDisp) and the maximum and minimum values of principal strains (MaxP1 and MinP2, respectively). Patients were divided into three groups (no fibrosis, mild-to-moderate fibrosis, and significant fibrosis) based on their aspartate-aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) score. Group comparisons were made using ANOVA tests. Results:The patients were divided into three groups according to APRI scores: no fibrosis (≤0.5; n=41), moderate fibrosis (0.5–1.5; n=23), and significant fibrosis (>1.5; n=21). The values of MaxDisp were 2.9±0.9 (mean±SD), 2.3±0.7, and 2.1±0.6 in the no fibrosis, moderate fibrosis, and significant fibrosis groups, respectively (P<0.001); the corresponding values of MaxP1 were 0.05±0.2, 0.04±0.02, and 0.03±0.01, respectively (P=0.002), while those of MinP2 were –0.07±0.02, –0.05±0.02, and –0.04±0.01, respectively (P<0.001). Conclusions:Tagged MRI to quantify cardiac-induced liver motion can be easily incorporated in routine liver MRI and may represent a helpful complementary tool in the diagnosis of early liver fibrosis

A GPS multipath mitigation technique using correlators with variable chip spacing

Various methods have been studied to mitigate the influence of multipath signals, representative methods focused the correlator structure are the Narrow Correlator and the Multipath Elimination Technique (MET). It is known that the MET has better performance than Narrow Correlator but it requires more complexity. In this paper, we propose a technique that has similar performance to the MET and it uses only three correlators like the Narrow Correlator. This technique switches the chip spacing of the correlators for each Predetection Integration Time (PIT) and applies it to the MET. For the performance analysis, we implemented a software platform and compared the code tracking error of the proposed technique with that of the Narrow Correlator and the MET

Growth rate of early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic liver disease

Background/AimsThe goal of this study was to estimate the growth rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and identify the host factors that significantly affect this rate.MethodsPatients with early-stage HCC (n=175) who underwent two or more serial dynamic imaging studies without any anticancer treatment at two tertiary care hospitals in Korea were identified. For each patient, the tumor volume doubling time (TVDT) of HCC was calculated by comparing tumor volumes between serial imaging studies. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from the medical records of the patients.ResultsThe median TVDT was 85.7 days, with a range of 11 to 851.2 days. Multiple linear regression revealed that the initial tumor diameter (a tumor factor) and the etiology of chronic liver disease (a host factor) were significantly associated with the TVDT. The TVDT was shorter when the initial tumor diameter was smaller, and was shorter in HCC related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection than in HCC related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (median, 76.8 days vs. 137.2 days; P=0.0234).ConclusionsThe etiology of chronic liver disease is a host factor that may significantly affect the growth rate of early-stage HCC, since HBV-associated HCC grows faster than HCV-associated HCC

Targeting metastatic breast cancer with peptide epitopes derived from autocatalytic loop of Prss14/ST14 membrane serine protease and with monoclonal antibodies

Background In order to develop a new immunotherapeutic agent targeting metastatic breast cancers, we chose to utilize autocatalytic feature of the membrane serine protease Prss14/ST14, a specific prognosis marker for ER negative breast cancer as a target molecule. Methods The study was conducted using three mouse breast cancer models, 4 T1 and E0771 mouse breast cancer cells into their syngeneic hosts, and an MMTV-PyMT transgenic mouse strain was used. Prss14/ST14 knockdown cells were used to test function in tumor growth and metastasis, peptides derived from the autocatalytic loop for activation were tested as preventive metastasis vaccine, and monoclonal and humanized antibodies to the same epitope were tested as new therapeutic candidates. ELISA, immunoprecipitation, Immunofluorescent staining, and flow cytometry were used to examine antigen binding. The functions of antibodies were tested in vitro for cell migration and in vivo for tumor growth and metastasis. Results Prss14/ST14 is critically involved in the metastasis of breast cancer and poor survival rather than primary tumor growth in two mouse models. The epitopes derived from the specific autocatalytic loop region of Prss14/ST14, based on structural modeling acted as efficient preventive metastasis vaccines in mice. A new specific monoclonal antibody mAb3F3 generated against the engineered loop structure could reduce cell migration, eliminate metastasis in PyMT mice, and can detect the Prss14/ST14 protein expressed in various human cancer cells. Humanized antibody huAb3F3 maintained the specificity and reduced the migration of human breast cancer cells in vitro. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that Prss14/ST14 is an important target for modulating metastasis. Our newly developed hybridoma mAbs and humanized antibody can be further developed as new promising candidates for the use in diagnosis and in immunotherapy of human metastatic breast cancer.This work is supported in part by the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2013R1A1A2009892 and No. 2017R1A2B4008109) and Inha Univeristy Research Grant awarded to MGK and (No. 2015R1A2A1A15054021) to SHK

State transformation and class struggle in Korea : a critique of the development state

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo